Blood of the Saiyans
by HistorianoftheKais
Summary: While preparing for the 22 Tenkaichi Budokai, Goku learns about his Saiyan heritage. The knowledge of Goku's heritage will have a profound effect on both Goku's life and the fate of the Earth
1. Chapter 1

Son Goku ran as fast as his legs could carry him with the 100 kg rock tied to his back. The 13 year old martial artist wished that Master Roshi hadn't banned him from using Kinto'un for the next three years. However, Goku had to admit that Master Roshi knew what he was talking about when he said it was good training. The monkey tailed boy could already feel his power growing and figured that he'd have to find a bigger boulder when he got home.

Goku stopped in his tracks when he thought of home. It had been over a year since he had left the mountain house he had lived in all his life before meeting Bulma. Life had been fun ever since he had met Bulma and he started going on his adventures. However, a part of Goku missed the old familiar mountains and valleys that he grew up in. Since he had three years before the next tournament, Goku figure it would be alright if he went back to Grandpa Gohan's house and train at home for a while. Goku had it all planned out, He'd spend a year at home just building up is abilities like Master Roshi had trained him and then the remaining two years would be spent gathering that 'life experience' stuff that he needed to get.

Just going back home was good training for Goku. Baba's palace was on the other side of the continent from his house so it was a long run home. Still, Goku thought he was making good time since it had only taken him a month to traverse the continent with the occasional stop to help someone out. He could already recognize his surroundings as the outermost area he had ventured away from home before meeting Bulma. A bigger smile than usual appeared on Goku's as he realized that home was only an hour away at most.

Forty minutes later, Goku came in sight of his old house. A small frown appeared on Goku's face when he saw all the weeds growing in his old vegetable garden and the vines clinging to the walls of the house. Seconds later Goku shrugged his shoulders and said, "Oh well, I guess the plants grew even without me around. Might as well get started fixing this place up!" Goku became a whirlwind of activity as he started to take care of the neglect. The first thing he took care of was the garden by quickly removing all the weeds and watering the vegetables that had grown from the plants he had planted last year.

With the garden in order, Goku moved on to repairing the house. Many of the boards for the house needed to be replaced, but that wasn't much of a problem for Goku. All of that construction work came in real handy when it came to fixing everything up. He even got to practice his martial arts with chopping down trees and making new boards! Goku had his typical grin on as he hauled the planks of wood from the forest to rebuild his house.

Something caught Goku's eyes as he was putting the planks up on the west side of his house. He stopped what he was doing and started walking towards the object. As Goku neared the object, he realized that it was a book binding. Goku quickly grabbed the book and pulled it out of its cubby hole which happened to be near where Grandpa Gohan used to set up his futon.

This wasn't something that Goku was expecting to find. He thought that he had everything that his grandpa had left behind when he died. Goku folded his arms together and thought about it for a second and then decided that he must not have found the book since he hadn't needed to repair this section of the house before. With child-like curiosity, Goku sat down and began reading the book he had found.

It turned out the book was his grandpa's diary. Goku smiled as he read his grandpa's thoughts and he could practically hear his voice talking to him again. Most of the entries were brief with Grandpa talking about his daily meditation and training. Goku paid special attention to the training outlined in the diary so he could apply it to his own training. About a third of the way through the diary, Goku came across an unusually long passage:

'While meditating at my favorite waterfall today, I spotted a falling star land nearby in the valley on the other side of the mountain I look at while meditating. I've never seen an actual meteorite before and I decided to investigate this one. The crater of this meteorite is very large. I estimate it to be about 600 meters wide and a hundred meters deep. To my surprise, there wasn't a meteor in the crater. Instead, I found a metal sphere that was in the center of the crater. The sphere opened up as I approached it to reveal a little baby sleeping in a chair. It's quite remarkable, but the little lad actually has a tail like a monkey!'

'I don't know who the lad is, or why he was in what I can only assume is some kind of space ship. However, I'm not about to leave the little fella alone out here in the woods. Whoever put the boy in that thing should be ashamed of themselves for doing such a thing to a baby. Don't they realize that a predator could attack him? I don't know who the boy is or where he's from, but I can't leave him alone out here so I plan to raise him as my own. I think that Goku would be a good name for the lad.'

For the first time in his life, Goku felt like he had a heart attack. Grandpa always said that he had found him in the woods, but he had never mentioned anything about finding him in a spaceship! Goku might be naïve, but he wasn't stupid like some people thought. Bulma had mentioned offhandedly that her father was working on a new spaceship to get to the moon and it was the most advanced on the planet. That meant that he wasn't around here since his grandpa's diary if it was true that he was found in a spaceship.

Nervously and anxiously desiring answers, Goku hurriedly continued reading through Grandpa Gohan's diary growing more shocked and horrified with each entry. As far back as Goku could remember he and Grandpa had gotten along fabulously and always had fun. But, Grandpa's diary talked about him constantly attacking Grandpa. The viciousness which Grandpa described Goku's baby self made him sound like a wild animal. However, even during the entries where Goku was at his worse, Grandpa spoke about how he was sure Goku would one day be a good boy. Eventually, Goku reach the entry speaking about how he had fallen into a deep ravine and almost died.

Goku was thrilled when the entries afterward spoke about him being a good and kind boy. That sounded more like his times with Grandpa that he remembered. However, Goku's happiness came crashing down when he got to an entry that talked about a night when he had seen the full moon.

"No," Goku whispered hoarsely as he read about Grandpa Gohan watching him turn into a giant ape. "This can't be correct. It's got to be a lie!" There was no way that what he had just read was true. The book just couldn't really be his Grandpa's journal; it had to be a cruel joke of some sort. Maybe Krillin had somehow come here before him planted the book as a prank. Even Goku's mind found that idea rather unbelievable, but his heart didn't want to accept the truth revealed in Gohan's journal.

"This can't be true and I'm going to prove it." Goku's face became uncommonly serious as he jumped to his feet and started running towards the setting sun. It was all so simple to Goku: the book couldn't be true and the best way to prove it was to see that there was no spaceship. If there was no spaceship then he couldn't transform into a monster because Grandpa wouldn't lie and there not being a spaceship where Grandpa supposedly said there was one clearly was a lie. Ergo, the book was a joke because it was lying and whereas Grandpa never lied.

Goku knew which waterfall was being talked about in his supposed 'Grandpa's Diary'. Grandpa used to always take him to the waterfall to practice meditating even though he usually just played in the stream that flowed from the waterfall. The young monkey boy raced towards the mountain and stopped for a second when he neared the pass to go behind the mountain. Grandpa had left strict instructions to Goku that he was never to into that valley. Goku didn't want to disobey his Grandpa, but he headed down into the valley thinking that it was okay just this once to prove that someone was trying to hurt Grandpa's good name.

Storm clouds were forming on the horizon as Goku entered the valley cutting off the remaining sunlight. Goku paused for a second, grabbed a fallen tree branch, and used a tiny Kamahamaha wave to set the branch on fire. He quickly picked up his makeshift torch and continued on his journey. A few minutes later, the monkey tailed boy came across a large crater.

Grass was growing in the crater showing that it had been there for some time. But, the crater was still fairly new since it was easy to see the crater's shape. Goku nervously gulped and shivered in fear. "Maybe a falling star did land here and whoever put that book there's trying to hide their lies with some truth. Yah, that's it, this is that deception stuff Master Roshi was talking about in his tactics class. Well, I'm not going to fall for it!"

Regaining his courage, Goku jumped into the crater and ran towards its center. All he had to do was run in a strait line and leave the crater without finding a spaceship. That would prove that the book was lying once and for all. Because of the darkness, Goku couldn't run as fast as he normally could. However, that didn't stop him from reaching the center of the crater and stopping in his tracks when the fire light reflected off of the space pod.

"No," Goku quietly whispered as he looked at his damning spacepod. If the pod was real, then that book he had found wasn't lying. If the book wasn't lying that meant that it really was his grandfather's diary. If it was Grandpa Gohan's diary, than that meant that- "GRANPA! I'M SORRY!" Goku fell to his knees and started crying just as the rain began to fall. Through the tears Goku sobbed, "I'm so sorry Grandpa. How did you forgive me?"

* * *

Given the emotional roller coaster Goku had been put through, it wasn't a big surprise that he fell asleep by his space pod. However, fate wasn't done putting the teenage Saiyan through the ringer just yet. The sensors on Goku's spacepod had detected Goku's presence ever since he had entered the crater. Old subroutines in the ship's computer started to boot up again causing the spacepod to open.

Inside the spaceship on its seat was Goku's old incubator unit. The unit quickly tapped into the ship's sensors to double-check that Goku was asleep. Once this was verified, three slender cables snaked out of the pod and headed towards Goku's forehead. Ever so gently, the cables attached themselves to Goku's forehead.

Say what you will about the Saiyans, but one cannot deny their ability to plan ahead when it comes to anything related to battle. Sending babies like Kakarot to non-threatening planets like Earth was simply using the appropriate level of force for the situation at hand. A Saiyan's natural abilities and the very basic training Kakarot had implanted into his brain on the journey to Earth would insure that a baby Saiyan could survive against local animals. With the Oozaru transformation that the spacepod could trigger at any time, it was expected that Kakarot would be reasonably safe for his first initial years of growth before he was strong enough to start on his mission.

Of course, there was a problem with sending babies off into space to wipe out indigenous races. How do you make the brats civilized and responsible citizens, even if it's just by Saiyan standards? Even the most advanced technology in the galaxy couldn't allow someone to put everything a person needed to know into a baby's brain. Not even a Saiyan could handle that kind of mental strain.

Now, the Saiyans weren't about to waste a bunch of time and energy educating their kids when they could be doing more important things like fighting or eating. So to deal with this situation they developed a way to directly download the basic information any soldier needed into their field agents. All that needed to be done was waiting for the child in question to get old enough so that their brain could handle the strain.

Goku had forgotten the basic training that had been instilled into Kakarot before he left Vegeta. However, that didn't mean much to his incubator unit. It could pump the Saiyan's language and everything else Goku needed to know by Saiyan standards even if he didn't remember his mission. All through the night, Goku learned about Saiyan history, basic math which Bulma had just finished learning herself, several basic fighting/support techniques like how to fly, and finally how to operate/repair his field equipment. After all, it just wouldn't do to have an agent get himself killed because he didn't know how to operate a scouter or had to be picked up because his ship was damaged.

* * *

Goku pulled himself into a fetal position near his pod as soon as he woke up then next morning. Tears were threatening to fall from the young saiyan's eyes as he tried to come to grips with everything he had learned. This wasn't supposed to happen! All Goku wanted was to return home so he train for a bit. He didn't want to discover that he was an alien from a nasty and cruel race! The images that kept on appearing in his mind reminded the young teenager of the Red Ribbon Army only his people were like a thousand time worse.

Part of Goku was furious at the Saiyans. They wanted him to kill people! It wasn't that hard for him to figure out why he had been sent to Earth. The information download hadn't hidden his people's main export since it was a 'legitimate business'. How could the Saiyans want him to kill people like Bulma, or Krillin, or Launch? Why would anyone want to hurt someone? Sure, people got hurt fighting in tournaments and such, but no one died and it was all in good fun.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Goku forced himself to stand and his face filled with determination. He looked at the sky and screamed out at the top of his lungs. "DO YOU HEAR ME YOU MEANY SAIYANS? MY NAME'S SON GOKU AND I REFUSE TO DO WHATEVER NASTY THINGS YOU WERE HOPING I'D DO WHEN YOU SENT ME HERE!" Goku took a deep breath and made a fist with his right hand. "I swear on my Grandpa Gohon's memory that I'll protect everyone I can from nasty people like the Saiyans."

His mind made up, Goku walked towards his space pod. Goku folded the seat down revealing a set of armor in the same style of his father's armor that had been prepared for him. For a second, Goku considered leaving the armor in the pod as he really didn't want another connection to his race. But in the end Goku grabbed it since it might be useful in the future. Next, Goku pushed the chair back into its proper position and then he popped the seat of the chair up to reveal a small briefcase like box. A quick check of the box revealed that it had the scouter and the repair tools like it should.

With the armor and the supply box in his hands, Goku ran from the pod as fast as his legs could carry him. If he never saw that spacepod again it would be way too soon. The young Saiyan quickly crossed the distance between the accursed valley and his halfway rebuilt home. As soon as Goku got home he set his items on the floor and walked over to his grandfather's shrine.

Goku reverently knelt down in front of the shrine and began to pray for guidance. He wanted to protect people from bad guys, but how was he to do this without becoming a bad guy like the other Saiyans? Slowly, Goku's mind began to drift over his time facing off against the Red Ribbon Army. Many of the soldiers had been willing to be good guys after he beat them and only a few were determined to keep on harming people. Maybe that was the key? Yes! That's what Grandpa did with him and look at him now: he wasn't like those Saiyans that the pod had showed him. "Thank you for showing me what to do Grandpa."

* * *

Three years later…

Son Goku calmly walked down the streets of Papaya Town on Papaya Island where the Tenkaichi Budokai was going to be held shortly. He calmly ignored the stares that many of the people on the streets were sending him. Having the runner up from the last tournament walking to the stadium wasn't odd to both the town regulars and the sports enthusiasts. The fact that the runner up had been only 12 and nearly won the tournament was another thing entirely.

The fifteen year old Saiyan walked up to the registration office and gave the monk a friendly smile. "Hi there, can I sign up for the tournament now?"

The monk blinked his eyes for a second and glanced at Goku. A big smile appeared on the monk's face when he recognized Goku. "Good to see you again Son Goku! Are you here to try and win the tournament this time?"

A grin appeared on Goku's face, "Yep!" Once the attendant put Goku's name on the list, the young Saiyan walked a few feet away and sat down to meditate. Goku was trying to sense the ki signals of his friends like Grandpa mentioned in his journals. The problem for Goku wasn't sensing ki, it was trying to separate a single person's ki from the ki signal of everyone else. The scouter in Goku's storage capsule could lock onto his friends easily, but Goku didn't want to solely rely on it.

Goku's face scrunched up as he noticed a brighter and more distinct ki blob to his senses. Whoever it belonged to was definitely stronger than most of the martial artists here. Who could it be? Krillin and Yamcha were supposed to be training together and should likely arrive at the same time. Could it be Jackie Chun? Why did the blob seem to be moving closer to him?

An ecstatic cry of joy shocked Goku out of his meditation. "Oh Goku you're here!" Before Goku could even open his eyes he was tackled to the ground. The young Saiyan opened his eyes to see an ecstatic girl hugging him. The girl smiled at her captive and cheerfully chirped, "I knew I'd find you again if I joined the Tenkaichi Budokai, but I wasn't expecting to find you so soon! Still, I'm not about to complain about this bit of good luck."

A deep rumbling and yet joyful voice called out, "Give Goku a chance to collect his wits Chi-Chi!" People started scurrying away from the area as the feared Ox King walk towards the two teens. "If the poor boy received an even more joyful greeting from you he'd probably be put into a coma."

The Ox King's antics gave Goku enough time to gather his wits and remember both the Ox King and Princess Chi-Chi. Goku then gave out a yet to be patented Son grin. "Hi Chi-Chi, Ox King, are you two entering the tournament too?"

Chi-Chi had now gotten off of Goku and was now blushing slightly as she nodded her head. "Father is not entering, but I am. Father's been giving me some extra heavy training for the past two years so I could enter the tournament. According to him, my training has actually been tougher than what the Turtle Hermit put you through for the last tournament."

Suddenly another voice joined the conversation. "Well now, I suppose it's a good thing when the student surpasses the teacher. That must be doubly true if it's because the student became a teacher themselves." Goku, Chi-Chi, and the Ox King turned to see Master Roshi, Yamcha, Krillin, and the rest of the gang approaching. Everyone quickly exchanged greetings and stated chatting for a few minutes about the training they had undergone over the past few years. After Yamcha, Krillian, and secretly Roshi had signed up, Goku left to go get something to eat and Chi-Chi went with him.

* * *

The preliminaries were a breeze for Goku. In fact, the only person in his block that was a serious threat was King Chappa. After winning his spot in the main tournament, Goku looked around to see how his friends were doing. Chi-Chi had just finished her block, Jackie Chun was talking with the monks since he was the first to secure his block, and both Krillin and Yamcha were finishing their matches. Goku got off of the preliminary stage and looked to see who had won in the final three blocks. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotsu were both finishing up their matches. Goku couldn't wait to face off against them since he could feel that they were strong.

Goku's eyes narrowed as he sensed a dark presence in room. His budding ki senses caused Goku to stare at the final qualifying ring. "No way, he's supposed to be dead!" Defying everything that Goku had hoped for, Mercenary Tao was standing in the tournament ring having just ruthlessly dispatched his last opponent.

Mercenary Tao turned to look at Goku and gave the Saiyan a nasty grin. As soon as the referee announced his victory, the now cybernetic assassin hopped off the preliminary ring and walked towards Goku. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the annoying little monkey who had to blemish my perfect record." Tao leaned in closer to Goku and his voice dripped of viciousness. "You left me in a pathetic condition after our last fight and I nearly died because of you. I fully intend to repay you for that inconvenience. However, unlike me, you won't have the luck of having several billion zeni on hand to restore yourself."

To Tao's surprise, Goku returned his glare with equal ferocity. "I'll say this only once Tao: you've got one chance left. If you play by the tournament rules and fight with honor I won't hold your past against you. However, if you continue your previous ways I'll destroy you."

"Don't make me laugh Goku. It was only by pure luck that you were able to deflect that grenade back at me. Kami doesn't bestow such fortune on fools twice in their lifetimes!" With that said Tao walked away from Goku and approached his brother's students.

Roshi noticed the altercation between Tao and his student and he started walking over to Goku. "Is everything alright Goku?"

Goku turned around and faced his disguised master. The worry and seriousness vanished from Goku's face and he returned to the cheerful self he normally was. "Hi Jackie, I'm happy to see you again. I can't wait for us to have a rematch!"

Roshi grinned at the thought of facing his student in the ring again. He didn't doubt for a moment that it would be a fun and challenging match. Still, he didn't come over for idle chit chat. "I look forward to our match too if we meet in the ring Goku. However, you never answered my question. Is everything alright? Things looked very serious when that other fighter was talking to you."

To Roshi's surprise, Goku's face became serious and his voice lost its normal joyful tone. "Things aren't alright Jackie. That was Mercenary Tao and he's an assassin that was hired by the Red Ribbon Army a few years to kill me over something I had. I beat him after he killed a friend's father and I thought he had died by blowing himself up. It looks like he survived after all."

"What are you planning on doing about this Goku?"

Goku's face hardened even further as he voiced his resolve. "If I face him in the ring I'll treat him like any other competitor. The ring is no place to settle personal disputes and everyone, even him, deserves a second chance. However, if he tries to attack me or anyone else outside of a match I'll destroy him in order to stop him from hurting others."

Roshi nodded his head, gently placed his hand on Goku's shoulder, and gave his student a small smile. "That is a very wise and mature decision Goku. One of the hardest lessons any person, martial artist or not, can learn is how to use the power they have. You are correct in that mercy should be shown to all, but even then there are people who will not reform their ways. I'm sure your master will be pleased to see how you've grown."

* * *

There was a half hour break between the preliminaries and the main tournament in order to give the contestants a chance to rest. Goku used this time to break away from his friends for a moment claiming he had to use the bathroom. While this was true, Goku delayed his return so he could pull out his scouter to check on everyone.

First Goku checked out his friends to see how they had grown. Yamcha had a power level 140, Krillin had a power level of 160, Jackie Chun had a power level of 185, and Chi-Chi had a power level of 97. Once he knew his friends levels, Goku turned to check out Mercenary Tao and the two Crane School students. Tao had a power level of 166, Chiaotsu's power level was 158, and Tien had a power level of 200. Armed with this information, Goku quickly stored his scouter back in its storage capsule.

In terms of raw power generation, Goku was the strongest with a power level of 205. However, that wasn't saying a whole lot. Power levels that the scouter detected was only a person's constant ki generation output at the moment. Firsthand experience with the Kamehame Wave told Goku that those numbers could change with a variety of things. Besides, skill still played an important role in any battle. It was possible that Chi-Chi for example, could beat him even though he was twice as strong as her.

As Goku rejoined his friends, Tao was giving Chiaotsu some orders. "Listen runt, you are to arrange for me to fight Goku in our first match. I've waited three years for revenge and I'm not about to let it slip through my fingers on the off chance Goku loses his match. If I don't take out Goku in this tournament I'll take my frustrations out on you."

Chiaotsu gulped and nodded his head. "I understand sir."

Tien gave his master's brother a questioning glance and then turned to look at his little friend. "Hey Chiaotsu, would you mind setting things up so that I fight Yamcha in the first round?"

Chiaotsu nodded his head and smiled at Tien, "Sure thing Tien."

The announcer chose this time to walk into the waiting area. "Hello everyone, it's great to see some talented returning fighters and some new faces as well. Let's move on to the drawing of lots to see who each of you will be facing off against. We'll start the drawing with Jackie Chun since he's the returning champion and then we'll simply go in alphabetical order." Everyone quickly drew their numbers and the attendant wrote them on the board. The fights in the first round were: Yamcha vs Tien, Jackie verses Chi-Chi, Krillin verses Chiaotsu, and finally Goku verses Tao.

After looking at the board, the announcer smiled and said, "Alright then. Would Yamcha and Tien please follow me to the ring and would the rest of you just stay here to watch?" Everyone nodded their heads and the first fight's fighters followed the tournament announcer into the ring.

Krillin had a big grin on his face as the announcer started things off. "Man this is great; Yamcha's going to wipe the floor with that pompous triclops. Master Roshi had us both using 100 kg turtle shells during our training so we've both gotten far stronger than we used to be. Besides, Yamcha isn't fighting a martial arts master with experience that rivals our own master."

Goku nodded his head, but wasn't nearly as jovial as Krillin. "I hate to break it to you Krillin, but Yamcha winning this match will come down to his skill and not his strength."

Krillin blinked his eyes in shock. "Say what? Are you actually saying that Tien is stronger than Yamcha?"

Goku nodded his head. "Krillin, Tien is the second strongest fighter here in raw ability. I only have a slight edge on him in that regard. This whole tournament will be determined by skill more than anything. Still, I can't wait to see how this match goes!"


	2. Chapter 2

Yamcha walked into the ring with a confident grin on his face which was mirrored by Tien. The Announcer glanced at the two contestants and called out, "This is it ladies and gentlemen: the first fight of the 22 Tenkaichi Budokai! In this fight we have returning contestant Yamcha who in the last tournament fought heroically against Jackie Chun. Since the last tournament, Yamcha has studied under the legendary Master Roshi of the Turtle School. Against him today is newcomer Tien Shinhan who is representing the Crane School. The antagonism between the Crane and the Turtle schools is legendary among martial arts lore even though the two schools are rumored to spring from the same parent school making this battle a showdown between rivals. Which fighter will prove to be the better one is to be determined by this match starting NOW!"

Signal given, Yamcha and Tien leaped into action. The audience watched in amazement as the two martial artists furiously traded blows with each other. At times, Tien and Yamcha's arms would seemingly disappear because of the speed they were traveling at. From time to time Yamcha and then Tien would start to drive the other towards the edge of the ring only for their efforts to be reversed.

Eventually, Yamcha pulled back and smirked at Tien. "Well, it seems that you're tougher than you look."

Tien didn't let Yamcha's taught get to him. "I must say, apparently you're not all bark after all."

Yamcha scowled and then back flipped to put some distance between him and Tien. "You overconfident fool; you'll soon see that I'm all bite! Let me show you my ultimate technique: Kamehameha!" Krillin, Roshi, and the audience all gasped in shock as Yamcha launched a fist sized beam of blue ki energy. Goku wasn't surprised that Yamcha could used the Kamehameha Wave. After all, Yamcha had enough power for a ki attack and he had seen that move several times beforehand.

If Tien was surprised by Yamcha's move, he didn't show it at all. He quickly brought his hands together with his first two fingers on each hand raised. A small bluish-white tint radiated from Tien and he yelled out as the Kamehameha Wave approached him: "KIAI!" Light blue waves emanated from Tien's hands as the Kamehameha Wave reached him.

"What the hell?" Yamcha cried out as he watched his attack stop a hairsbreadth from hitting Tien. Seconds later, the wave stopped forming a blue sphere in front of Tien. The three eyed warrior grinned and yelled again sending the attack back towards Yamcha. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! HE REFLECTED IT?" The former bandit couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him.

Luckily for Yamcha, instincts don't require belief to work. He jumped sixty feet into the air and the reflected attack missed him destroying a nearby statue. However, lady luck was as temperamental as Bulma or Chi-Chi could be. Tien leapt into the air after Yamcha and almost instantly was above the Turtle school student. The Crane student slammed his fists into Yamcha's back sending him crashing into the arena floor.

Tien quickly followed Yamcha to the ground with his knee set up to break Yamcha's leg. Seconds before the blow occurred, Tien straightened out his other leg landing on it with his knee only inches away from Yamcha's leg. The Announcer started counting and when he got to 10 declared Tien the winner of the fight. Tien walked out of the ring and Puar quickly transformed into a magic carpet so that Yamcha could be carried off of the arena.

A hand reached out and grabbed Tien as soon as he entered the fighter's waiting area. To Tien's surprise, he was thrown into the dividing wall by Tao who was snarling. "Have you learned nothing you stupid boy! Never let your opponent go without killing or crippling him! Perhaps you need a little refresher course." Tao grinned and started to pull back his fist.

Quick as lightning, Roshi grabbed Tao's fist and firmly held it in place. "Know three things Tao. First, if you strike Tien now you'll be disqualified for fighting outside the ring. Secondly, I'll personally send you to hell for harming a martial artist who only fought honorably in an honorable competition. Finally, there is the distinct possibility of young Goku sending you to hell before I can." Roshi then gestured with his head to the right where Goku was floating in the air with a prepared Kamehameha ready to fire. The look on Goku's face clearly showed that he'd fire it at Tao if the mercenary so much as blinked.

Tao scowled and let Tien go. "You've earned yourself a temporary reprieve Tien. Do expect your next lesson to be even more painful than it would have been just now." Tao then left to go sit in a shadowy corner where he could fume in silence.

Tien stood up and quickly brushed himself off. He then bowed to Roshi. "Thank you for your assistance Mr. Chun."

Roshi smiled and replied, "Think nothing of it Tien. Talent should be cultivated, not attacked. You've earned a great deal of power through your hard work. I just pray that you learn how to use it wisely." With that, Roshi left to go to his match and Tien started to think long and hard about many things.

* * *

The Announcer grinned since this was turning out to be one memorable tournament. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, we are now moving on to the second fight! In this match we have returning champion Jackie Chun facing off against Princess Chi-Chi of the Ox Kingdom. Jackie has gone down in martial arts lore with his epic match against Son Goku in the last tournament while Chi-Chi has demonstrated enough power and skill to rival her feared father the Ox King. Let us now see whether experience and wisdom will get the better of beauty and brawns or not!"

Chi-Chi started off the match with a ferocious attack of kicks and hand chops. Roshi expertly either deflected Chi-Chi's blows or weaved away from them. Silently, the old master was evaluating his old student's daughter. Ox King had definitely done a very thorough job with the girl's training. Her form was excellent; aggressive, but it didn't have any holes in it.

After a few minutes, Roshi decided to kick it up a notch. The old master quickly went on the offensive seeing how Chi-Chi could fight defensively. She may prefer an aggressive style, but it was immediately obvious that she was just as good at defense as she was at offense. Several times Chi-Chi tried to return to the offence. Her tactics were sound and would have worked against most opponents. But, Roshi was simply too experienced to lose control of the fight.

Around the ten minute mark, Roshi decided that enough was enough and put some distance between him and Chi-Chi. "Well Little Princess, I must say that it's been an honor to fight against you and that you are a credit to your teachers. You've apparently mastered everything that your father can teach you. I'd suggest you seek out his master for more training. However, let's finish this match, KIAI!" Roshi shoved his fist out with the palm towards Chi-Chi creating a powerful gust of wind.

Chi-Chi tried to resist the tornado like pull of the wind. She dug her feet into the stadium floor, but then she started to be pushed backwards. Refusing to be blown away, Chi-Chi gritted her teeth and slammed her fingers into the arena floor. The improvised handholds temporarily stopped Chi-Chi's journey to the edge. However, Roshi didn't let up feeding the gust of wind resulting in Chi-Chi and the tile she was death gripping to go flying out of the arena.

The Announcer called the ring out when Chi-Chi's back hit the audience wall. Chi-Chi looked up with a pout on her fact to see her father looking down at her. "Sorry for losing my match Father."

Ox King smiled and replied, "That's alright dear. You did your best and that's all that matters. Besides it's quite an accomplishment for a sixteen year old girl to become one of the eight strongest people in the world and give a good match to the previous champion!"

* * *

Goku walked over to Tien who was still meditating and politely coughed. As soon as Tien opened his eyes Goku said, "Hey there. You're friend is about to have his match. Don't you want to watch him fight?"

Tien looked down at the ground. "I do want to watch Chiaotsu. However, I need to sort some things out for myself at the moment. Besides, I have full confidence in Chiaotsu's abilities as a fighter."

Goku nodded his head accepting Tien's reasoning. The young saiyan then sat down next to Tien and rested his back against the wall. Tien gave Goku a puzzled look. "Aren't you going to watch your friend?"

Goku smiled and replied, "It wouldn't be fair to Chiaotsu if Krillin had me watching his match but Chiaotsu didn't have you watching his match. Besides, I also have full confidence in Krillin's abilities!"

Tien shrugged his shoulders and accepted Goku's rather bizarre logic. It was just another item on a long list of things that he needed to sort out. It was all so frustrating for Tien. This whole tournament was supposed to be simple! Master Crane had entered him and Chiaotsu into the tournament in order to humiliate the Turtle Hermit by having them beat the Turtle Hermit's prized students. Things first started to get complicated when Master Tao showed up to compete as a cyborg. It was almost unimaginable that Tao could have been beaten bad enough to undergo that kind of surgery. Then there was the unexpectedly demanding way Tao insisted on facing Goku. Sure Tao had always been demanding during training; but not to that degree. Finally, there was the incidence after his match with Jackie and Goku coming to his defense.

That last bit just didn't make any sense to Tien's worldview. People just don't jump to another's aid without good reason. Sure, Tien would jump to Chiaotsu's aid in an instant and he knew that his friend would do the same. However, that was because he and Chiaotsu were brothers in all but blood after everything they went through together. Jackie hadn't offered any reason why the former champion jumped to his defense. Both Jackie and Goku had everything to lose by coming to his aid since they could be disqualified for fighting outside the ring. In fact, it would have been in their favor if Tao and he got into a fight since that would be two less competitors for them. That was especially true for Jackie who would have been assured a spot in the finals.

The duo's further actions only continued to distort Tien's worldview. Jackie's match with Chi-Chi made it obvious that he was evaluating her as a fighter. He could have ended it at any time and yet he didn't end the match until he had tested every aspect of Chi-Chi's fighting ability. Why had he done so? Goku also was an enigma. What reason could a complete stranger have for making sure that he watched Chiaotsu's match? Furthermore, why had Goku decided not to watch a match that the boy was obviously eager to see simply because it 'wasn't fair to Chiaotsu'? The more Tien pondered these issues, the more confused and uncertain he became.

* * *

Krillin eventually won his match by distracting Chiaotsu with math problems enabling the Turtle midget to knock the Crane midget out of the arena. Finally, the last match of the day was about to begin. Goku and Tao walked onto the stadium side by side with the tension between them so thick that the audience could cut it. Seemingly oblivious, the Announcer happily began his duties. "Young Son Goku is only 15 years old and yet he is a veteran of the Tenkaichi Budokai having come within a hair's breadth of being the winner of the last tournament at the age of 12. Facing off against him is the feared Mercenary Tao who is known throughout the world as best fighter money can buy and whispered to be an elite assassin. Fighters ready? FIGHT!"

Like the previous matches, Tao and Goku leaped into the fight. However, the aura of this fight was different from the others. There was an innate hostility and aggressiveness in both Goku and especially Tao's blows that the previous fighters didn't have. This wasn't a friendly or serious match between marital artists; it was a battle between two warriors that could only end in the defeat of one warrior. What shape that defeat took depended on the fighter. Goku's driving blows clearly showed his intent to force Tao into a ringout. The potentially crippling strikes Tao tried to land on Goku showed that at best he wanted to put Goku into a coma.

"Amazing," Tien muttered as he watched the match. He had reluctantly decided to watch Goku's match hoping to find some key to understand the enigma that was Son Goku. "His form and power is just as good as Tao's. How can he be so good?"

Roshi slid over on the separator wall to get closer to Tien and Chiaotsu. "That boy has always had a tremendous, almost other worldly, aptitude for fighting. What can take others weeks or months to learn, Goku seems to learn in minutes or hours. Yamcha told me once that Goku learned how to do the Kamehameha after seeing his master perform it once before he even received any training. His current ability does not surprise me in the least. However, I would suggest you pay even closer to the match. Look at the blows they are trading."

Tien did as Roshi suggested and was shocked at what he saw. A split second before Tao moved for a strike, Goku's hand moved to block it. Again, and again, and yet still again Goku was moving to block or redirect Tao's blows before Tao even made them. Chiaotsu blurted out, "Unbelievable, Goku is reading Tao's movements and responding to them faster than Tao can carry out his moves."

Tao had reached the same conclusion as the other fighters had. Currently, Goku was firmly holding Tao's mechanical left hand. Suddenly, Tao yelled out, "I've had enough of this!" There was a clicking sound and to Goku's shock Tao's hand disconnected itself. Tao used the momentary shock to thrust out with his handless limb as a sword sprang out of it.

Goku tried to avoid the blade, but he didn't have enough time. The young saiyan unleashed a blood curdling scream of pain as Tao's blade gouged out his right eye and sent some of the bone from his eye socket flying. Goku fell to his knees from the pain and shock. The Announcer called out in rage. "The match is over with Tao disqualified for using a weapon!" Roshi and Krillin started racing out towards the arena to help get Goku to a hospital.

However, Tao screamed out, "This isn't over by a long shot!" Suddenly a loud explosion shook the arena. Everyone turned to stare in horror as one of the many hotels was set ablaze. Tao sneered at Roshi, Krillin, and the Announcer. "I've rigged bombs in every hotel on this island and in many other places. If anyone dares move one inch closer to the ring I'll set them all off. Unless you want thousands of people to die, you will leave Goku and me alone to settle our issues." Tao then broke out into a maniacal fit of laughter.

"You monster," Goku screamed out in rage as he gave Tao a fierce upper cut that sent him flying back several feet. Goku rose to his feet and placed a hand over his bleeding eye socket. The young saiyan hissed slightly as he used his ki to cauterize the wound. When Goku removed his hand everyone could see a jagged and wicked looking scar running from the bridge of his nose, through where his eyelids would have met, and through the chipped off eye socket bone on the edge of his face only tapering off just shy of his ear.

"Even after everything that you did to me before this match I was willing to forgive you so that you could have another chance. However, you've proven yourself to be nothing but a monster in a man's skin by breaking the rules of this tournament and endangering thousands just to get back at me. The time for forgiveness is over Tao because I'm going to send you to hell. Let's see how a monster in a man's body fares against a man in a monster's body."

Krillin gulped and called out to Roshi, "Hey Jackie! What on Earth is Goku talking about?"

Roshi was trying to figure out what Goku was saying. Suddenly, he remembered the finals from the last tournament and Goku's transformation. Could that be what Goku was talking about? "No," Roshi whispered in a scared voice, "that's impossible. He doesn't know about that and the moon is gone!"

Goku calmly held his hand out in front of him and closed his eyes for a second. Tao was curious about what Goku was planning and let him do it. After all, Goku's last victory was only a fluke and the boy was half blind. Mere seconds later, a baseball sized orb was floating just above the young saiyan's hand. Everyone who knew Goku or and been to the last tournament watched with batted breath as Goku threw the ball into air shouting, "Mix and combine!"

Oolong squealed like a little pig and cried out, "This is a nightmare! Goku's created a full moon. We're all going to die." While Oolong was crying for his sow, Goku looked at the false moon he had created and started transforming. In less than a minute Goku completed his transformation into an Oozaru. Unlike at the last tournament, Goku's clothes hadn't been destroyed as he grew. Using Saiyan technology Goku had been able to create a gi that would stretch with his transformation. Also, the great ape wasn't thrashing wildly about like at the last tournament and was instead calmly standing with his arms across his chest.

A deep, almost beastly voice rumbled out from the Oozaru's mouth. "This is the form of your executioner Tao. I'm ten times stronger in this form and my power is always at its max." Goku turned his head slightly seeing Roshi and Krillin bleached white in fear. "Don't worry friends; I have complete control over myself in this form unlike last time I was in the ring. It took me nearly a year of constantly transforming, but I control the beast within me now. It does not control me."

Tao sneered and called out, "You're just a big useless target Goku! Even if you were a hundred times stronger in that form you're still going to die." The cyborg assassin retracted the blade into his arm and the muzzle of a gun came out. "Take this, Maximum Dodonpa!" A massive orange beam of ki shot out of Tao's arm gun and slammed into Goku.

However, Tao's attack barely singed Goku's fur in his Oozaru form. Goku then decided that enough was enough. He quickly reached out and grabbed Tao with a massive hand. The teenage Oozaru then chucked Tao into the air like a baseball and used the mercenary as a clay pigeon for his mouth blast. Goku turned to the audience and called out, "I'm sorry you all had to witness that since you wanted to see a good clean fight."

* * *

With the Goku-Tao death match over, the Announcer called the end of the day's matches. Many of the people who had come to watch the tournament still stuck around though while the police searched for the bombs that Tao claimed to have planted. The monks, being rather understanding fellows, were hastily arraigning for a banquet to hold everyone over till the bomb searches could be complete.

Currently, the dragonball gang along with Tien and Chiaotsu were gathered in the fighter waiting area. Goku was currently seated Indian style on Kinto'un. Launch, Bulma, and Chi-Chi were off a little ways away talking about hair styles. Krillin, Roshi who was no longer in deguise, and Yamcha were circling Goku. Oolong and Puar were half way between the fighters and the girls playing go fish. Ox King had left to get some food for everyone but Goku as the young Saiyan would have to get his own food as not even Ox King could carry enough food to fill that pit. Finally, the Crane students were meditating a little ways away but still near enough that they could hear everything that was said.

Yamcha was the first of the guys to speak. "Man Goku, don't you think that you could have given us some warning that you had learned to control that transformation of yours? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Goku shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Why should I? I wasn't planning to use it in the tournament. After all, the Tenkaichi Budokai is supposed to be a friendly competition between martial artists. My Oozaru state is pretty much for when I need to destroy something quickly. Besides, it wasn't like any of you told me that I could transform when I did so earlier."

Everyone who had been at the previous tournament suddenly found the floor extremely fascinating to look at. Finally Chi-Chi walked over to the other fighters and shyly asked, "Goku? How did you learn to do that transformation of yours?"

The young saiyan got a faraway look in his eyes. "Early in my training after I revived Upa's father with the dragonballs I went back home. I found my Grandpa's journal and it talked about me transforming one night. Once I discovered that fact, I vowed to control my Oozaru self. I found a technique that some fighters who were dependent on the moon created and used it every day for a year until I could control myself."

Roshi walked closer to Goku and gently placed a hand on the saiyan's shoulder. "Goku, I think it's time I let you in on a little secret. Your grandfather and I had a brief chat before he returned to the other world. He wasn't bothered by the circumstances of his own arrival there, but was worried about how you were doing with that ability of yours. He is undoubtedly proud of your accomplishments. Few have inner demons as strong you do and fewer still have the strength to conquer them."

Goku gave his usual grin on hearing Roshi's praise. It was a little unnerving for everyone to watch Goku grin like that with his scarred missing eye practically taunting them to stare. Finally Launch called out after sneezing, "Hey Goku! Are you going to get that eye of yours treated or not? I'm sure that I can get an eye patch for you from those wannabes I saw at the bar last night."

Shaking his head Goku replied, "Why should I go to a doctor? Tao's blade cut my eye out and cut it in two. I've already closed up the wound so what more could a doctor do? The only way I could get my eye back is with the dragonballs and that seems like a pretty selfish wish to me."

Yamcha added his two cents. "I don't know Goku. That doesn't sound nearly as selfish as some of the other wishes I've heard." Yamcha then glanced over at Oolong. Now, that was without a doubt one very selfish wish that Oolong had made even though it did save the world from being ruled by Pilaf. The gang continued chatting about one thing after another barely noting Ox King's arrival or that the Announcer had stated that it was safe to return to the hotels. About the only noteworthy event was Chi-Chi getting Roshi to accept her as his pupil after Roshi assured Ox King that he was going to be serious about Chi-Chi's training.

* * *

Sleep did not come easily to Goku. In fact, he couldn't sleep a wink because of his conscience. No matter how much he tried to justify it, Goku had killed Tao today and his conscience wouldn't let him rest because of that act. How could he be better than the saiyans if he was willing to kill like that? Academically, Goku knew that Tao was too dangerous to live and it was a justified death. However, his heart wouldn't accept that reasoning.

Around 1 in the morning Goku gave up trying to get to sleep and got out of bed. He quietly put on some yellow pants and a blue gi top before he left the hotel room. Goku paused for a second to look at himself in the mirror and his missing eye. For a split second, Goku thought about using the dragonballs to regain the sight Tao took from him. However, Goku quickly changed his mind a resolved to keep the scar and missing eye. It would serve as a good reminder about just how serious and final some fights could be. As long as he remembered that his actions had consequences then he shouldn't head down the path of his people.

Goku left his hotel room and headed up to the hotel roof. He walked over to the edge of the roof and sat down. He then looked up at the sky to see the brilliance of the Lunar Ring. The moon's shattered remains were breathtakingly beautiful and a somber reminder to Goku. It had been destroyed to keep him from running rampant three years ago. In many ways, the Lunar Ring was a reminder of the price that must be paid to protect the innocent cut into the heavens.

Scanning the sky, Goku's eyes drifted in dread to an orange star that was faintly shining in between the chunks of the Lunar Ring. That star was none other than Kohlrabi, Planet Vegeta's home sun. That star was another unwanted reminder to Goku that, as much as he thought of himself as a human, he wasn't one. Earth might have raised him, but it Vegeta that gave birth to him.

There was fear in the back of Goku's mind that one day his race would come looking for him. After all, the only reason he was sent to Earth was to prepare it for resale. Why shouldn't he expect the saiyans to come looking for why Earth wasn't on the intergalactic market yet? Still, every day that another saiyan didn't show up was a good day for Goku.

But what if the day came and they did arrive on Earth? What would he do then? While Goku was undoubtedly one of the strongest people on Earth at the moment, the problem was that he was only a low powered 3rd class warrior by Saiyan ranking. There simply weren't any beings on Earth powerful enough to give him the chance to grow to the level that was needed to face off even a single 2nd class warrior. After all, the threat level of Earth was non-existent; it was a perfect planet for a 'teething mission'.

Goku slapped his cheeks with his hands and then shook his head. "Alright, that's enough moping about. I might as well meditate if I can't get to sleep. After all, tomorrow I get to fight Krillin and either Jackie or Tien!"

* * *

Author's notes: Kohlrabi is a type of cabbage commonly eaten in the Kashmir. I figured it would be a good name to go along with the Saiyan naming convention.

One of the reviewers mentioned that Goku's power level was rather low. There are several very good reasons for this. First, Goku spent a third of the time he had before the tournament simply trying to control the Oozaru transformation which took so long because he had to figure everything out by himself. Second, Goku may have gotten some techniques from his pod, but not a training manual. Saiyan training seems to rely on throwing someone into battle or harsh conditions, heal them so that their natural abilities boost their powers, and then repeat. Finally, Goku doesn't have access to training gear that he got in DBZ. I.E, he doesn't have crater-causing clothes or access to a Gravity room.

Another reviewer was stating that Goku appeared too smart compared to his canon self. I'd like to disagree, Goku repeatedly shown that he is very smart and perceptive in battle, but in the manga the only formal schooling Goku had was several months with Master Roshi before the 22 Tenkaichi Budokai. Thus, I think that he isn't dense or stupid so much as he is uneducated scholastically.


	3. Chapter 3

The Announcer stood in the center of the stadium and called out to crowd. "Welcome martial arts enthusiasts. Today is the second day of the 22 Tenkaichi Budokai where we will be having the semi-finals this morning and the finals this afternoon. For the first half of the semi-finals we have newcomer Tien Shinhan facing off against defending champion Jackie Chun. Will both fighters please come to the ring now?"

Tien and Roshi calmly walked into the ring shoulder to shoulder. Once in the ring, they walked the customary distance apart and waited for the signal to fight. The two fighters spring into action as soon as the signal to start was given. Tien had started on the offense, but Roshi was simply blocking or dodging every attack that Tien made. After a while, Roshi got tired of being on the defensive and switched to offence.

It was quite a shock for Tien to find himself on the defense in a fight. He wasn't used to reacting; he made others react to him in a fight! After taking a knee to the chest, the triclops decided that enough was enough and he flew into the air. Floating a few feet above Roshi, he called out, "Solar Flare!" Tien smirked figuring that he had rendered his opponent helpless. He then took advantage for Roshi's temporary blindness to fly at the old man with the intention of delivering a knock-out kick to the back.

However, Tien's foot never reached Roshi's back. To Tien's shock, Roshi had whirled around and blocked the attack with his left arm. "What," Tien cried out in shock, "How can you do this? I blinded you with the Solar Flare!"

Roshi let out a small chuckle. "That you did Tien; I still can't see anything even though my vision is starting to return. However," Roshi paused only long enough to punch Tien in the chest with his open palm, "Only an inexperienced fighter relies on just his eyes in a fight! The eyes can easily be deceived." To emphasis this point, Roshi used the after image technique several times and then punched the still shocked Tien in back.

As Roshi expected, Tien was able to quickly recover from the blow that he had just delivered. Tien turned to face Roshi and called out, "You're right. Only an inexperienced fighter relies on just his eyes. However, an experienced fighter can use his eyes for far more than just seeing an enemy. Try this, Kamehameha!" Roshi was momentarily surprised that Tien could create a Kamehameha Wave after only seeing it once. But, the old master quickly recovered his wits and deflected the attack harmlessly into the air.

Most of the audience was shocked and amazed at how the fight was going so far. However, the more attentive members of the audience were wondering why Tien wasn't surprised at how Jackie had so effortlessly defected the Kamehameha Wave. In fact, Tien was smirking. "Very impressive Jackie Chun, it was quite interesting how you were able to so effortlessly reflect the Kamehameha Wave. Were you shocked to see a student of your rival use your own attack!"

Goku, Krillin, the rest of the dragonball gang not in the know, and many members of the audience gasped in shock. Jackie Chun was Master Roshi? Tien smirked and called out, "You did a good job of hiding it old man, but you messed up a few things with your disguise. First you can't change your facial structure, although I will admit that the wig your wearing and removing your sunglasses were very useful in throwing off suspicion. Second, your style of fighting is the original Turtle School Style and not a derivative or heavily influenced by it. Finally, a quick background check reveals that 'Jackie Chun' doesn't exist and no one has heard of him except for appearing at the 21 Tenkaichi Budokai."

Realizing that the jig was up, Roshi pulled the wig off his head. "You can't just let an old martial arts master enter a tournament in disguise can you Tien? Fine, I'll admit it, I am Master Roshi!" The Turtle Hermit then pulled out a pair of his customary sunglasses and put them on his face.

Tien was smiling. "Thank you for this fight Turtle Hermit. It's exciting to face off against someone more powerful than my own master. However, would you come at me with your full power? I can sense that you aren't using your full potential and I don't want to chance winning against someone because they were handicapping themselves. It wouldn't make any victory on my part satisfying."

Roshi shrugged and decided it was time to teach Tien a lesson in humility. His cover might be blown, but he wasn't about to give up his primary mission of making sure that the younger martial arts learned some valuable lessons. Gathering his energy, Roshi let out a yell as his muscles started to bulge. When it was finally over, Roshi had grown almost a foot and looked like a body builder with the muscles he had. "Alright Tien, you've got what you asked for, I'm now at my maximum power."

Round two of Tien and Roshi's fight began in earnest as the audience eagerly watched the remaining Crane contestant battle the master of his rival school. Tien had expected that Roshi would be a harder opponent now that he was using his full power. However, the punch Roshi delivered to Tien stomach felt like a freight train had hit the triclops. That first punch was only a taste of what Roshi had in store for Tien. Two things became very obvious as the fight continued. First, Roshi was much more powerful when he was using his maximum power and those muscles didn't slow him down. Second, it was becoming ever more obvious to Tien that the turtle hermit had purchased his ass and was paying off the mortgage in pain.

Goku was surprised to see just how much more powerful Roshi was in his current stated. The teen saiyan quickly pulled out his scouter to get an exact read on Roshi power. "Amazing," Goku whispered to himself, "Master Roshi's power has increased to 320!" Krillin never noticed Goku using the scouter because he was too amazed at how Roshi owned the fight.

Finally, Roshi felt that Tien had learned his lesson and picked the teenager up by his neck. Quietly he whispered to the boy. "You're a good lad Tien and you have a lot of potential. No doubt you'll one day surpass me in strength one day. However, you must learn your limits so you can surpass them and learn to never assume that you're the strongest. As strong as I am, I know that there are beings on this world with far more power than I have. Still, I enjoyed our fight and I hope we can fight again in the future so I can see how you've improved." With that said Roshi walked to the edge of the stadium and dropped Tien out of the ring.

* * *

The Announcer was grinning like a mad man as he did the introductions for the second half of the semi-finals. "Well folks, it appears that we are in for a treat today. In the second half of the semi-finals we have veteran fighters stepping into the ring. Goku and Krillin will be battling it out to see who can advance to the finals where the winner will face off against their master for the championship of this tournament."

Krillin was nervous about his fight. He had no doubts that Goku was more powerful than he. The fact that Goku had his Oozaru trump card almost sealed the deal on the fight. The only way Krillin could see to win was to trick Goku and to exploit Goku's blind spot. As soon as the fight started Krillin and Goku started trading blows. It was quite obvious as the two teens continued fighting that they were both equally skilled when it came to the arts of battle. However, it was also obvious that Goku was the stronger of the two boys. The saiyan's punches simply hurt more, his reflexes were faster allowing him to block quicker, and he could soak up the damage from the hits Krillin landed easier.

It was only a few minutes into the fight and Krillin was already sweating from exhaustion. He quickly decided that now was the time to spring his plan into action. "Hey look, is that a noodle cart offering free food to fighters!" Goku's head whipped around to find the noodle cart causing Krillin to grin. Goku might be stronger than him, but he was still smarter than Goku. In the end, it was always the smarter fighter who would win a battle.

Unfortunately for Krillin, the bald fighter couldn't see the grin on Goku's face. The teen saiyan called out, "Thunder Shock Surprise!" Goku's tail glowed with a greenish-gold light which Krillin was almost instantly sporting as well. If Krillin had hair on his head it would have been standing up strait from the electricity coursing through his body. Goku jumped up into the air and flew towards the barrier wall with his rival being dragged behind unable to let go of Goku's tail from the shock. Krillin's time as a human light bulb ended when Goku gently whacked him into the wall knocking him out of bounds.

Krillin comically fell to the ground on his butt twitching every few seconds from the residual electricity. Goku was simply floating a foot off the ground grinning at how silly Krillin look. The Announcer was momentarily shocked at the scene, but quickly recovered. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, thanks to a shocking upset and a ring out, Goku is the winner of this match. That means that he will be going to the finals for a rematch against Master Roshi for a shot at the 22 Tenkaichi Budokai tournament championship!"

Hearing that Goku was going to the finals snapped Krillin out the shock he was in. He stood up, looked at his surroundings, and then sighed. "Well, I gave it my best shot." Krillin then turn to look at Goku who was still giggling. "How did you do it Goku? I had you by the tail!"

With a grin Goku replied, "It's simple Krillin, I trained my tail so it wouldn't be a weak point for me. I figured you, Yamcha, or Master Roshi would try to use my tail against me in this tournament so I remembered Roshi's Thunder Shock Surprise technique and recreated it."

Off to the side, the non-combatants and already eliminated competitors of the dragonball gang were staring with their mouths open. "I don't believe it." Oolong muttered to himself. "Does Goku have ANY weaknesses left? He almost seems inhuman."

A slight frown momentarily crossed Goku's face as his superior hearing picked up Oolong's comment. That careless comment almost felt like a knife being driven into his heart. Only two facts allowed Goku to keep smiling: Oolong's voice didn't have any malice or fear in it and the cold truth that he wasn't a human.

* * *

Lunch was a very interesting affair for the dragonball gang. How could it not be when two of their friends, even Bulma was grudgingly willing to consider Roshi as her friend, were going to be fighting each other for the title of strongest under the heavens? The monks had prepared a feast fit for kings and were happily serving it to the entire group. Goku was seated at one end of the table and Roshi sat at the other end. Everyone else was sitting between the two with the set of seats immediately next to Goku empty. He might be their dear friend, but no one wanted to risk losing their lunch to Goku's gut.

Chi-Chi looked over to Goku was having trouble wrapping her mind around the fact that he was eating so much. She thought that he had eaten a lot during their date a few days ago because he was famished from getting to the island. But, she had just watched him eat twice as much as he did during the date! She turned to Krillin and whispered, "Does he ever stop?"

Krillin was annoyed at having Goku's eating habits brought up while he was eating. That wasn't something conducive to digestion! His body shifted to a defensive posture ready to defend his plate if need be; a habit he had picked up after spending a year training with Goku. "Eventually that pit gets satisfied. Launch checked a few times and found that Goku tends to stop once he's had enough to feed ten people. Occasionally he'll eat a little more, but that's usually before a fight or after he's been injured. Where he puts it all is something I'll never figure out."

Trying to turn the conversation to more pleasant subjects, Yamcha asked, "Master Roshi?" Once he had everyone's attention Yamcha continued, "What happens if Goku wins the match between you two? It was very close last time after all. Would that make Goku a master of the Turtle School?"

Roshi shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Winning a fight against me would not make Goku a master. Being a master of martial arts requires one to both know the art and know how to use it properly. Goku has already demonstrated both of these requirements to my satisfaction. If he wants to be officially recognized as a genuine master of the Turtle School all he has to do is ask me and I will gladly sign his certification."

Goku paused his feeding frenzy long enough to listen to what Roshi had to say. "Thanks Master Roshi, but I don't need to be a recognized master at the moment. Still, it's great that you think I'm ready. What about Krillin and Yamcha? Do you think that they're ready as well?"

Both fighters eagerly turned to look at Roshi. The old master took a sip of tea and then gave his answer. "In terms of raw fighting skill, both Krillin and Yamcha are ready to be masters. However, I'm still not convinced that you two are mentally ready for the title. Yamcha, you are still too arrogant when it comes to your skills and you continually underestimate your opponents. Despite the obvious signs that Tien was a powerful fighter, you continued to dismiss him even into your fight. Krillin, you've demonstrated a dangerous lack of planning ahead and poor tactical judgment. Your match with Chaotsu was a clear case of this! You knew that there would be fighters at the tournament capable of using their ki and instead of practicing on your own like Yamcha you wait until the middle of a fight. Secondly, why were you trying to learn how to do the Kamehameha Wave in the middle of a tournament battle? Improvising like that is tolerable in a real battle in order to save someone's life, but doing something that dangerous because of a tournament is just stupid. The smart decision in that situation would have been to simply forfeit the match."

"Until you two fix these flaws of yours I cannot in good consciousness name either of you a master. Of course, I say this with full confidence that both of you will correct the mistakes that I've pointed out to you. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if both of you are ready for the title by the time the next Tenkaichi Budokai rolls around."

* * *

The audience was practically radiating excitement as Roshi and Goku walked onto the arena stage. With great gusto the Announcer began to speak. "Three years ago, master and student unknowingly battled it out to see who would become the Strongest under the Heavens. Both combatants gave everything they had in that fight with Master Roshi under the alias of Jackie Chun narrowly beating Goku. However, that was three years ago. The question on everyone's mind today is: can the Invincible Old Master defeat his student again or will Goku prove today that students can surpass their teachers?"

As soon as the gong rang, Goku flew at Roshi and began a ferocious frontal assault. Goku was attacking far more aggressively than he usually did. As Roshi blocked and in a few cases barely dogged he commented on this. "Why Goku, I don't think I've ever seen you so aggressive before in battle." Roshi paused for a second to duck under a kick and block an attempted strike at his head from Goku's tail. "Your form is excellent, but what's with this all out offense of yours?"

To many people's surprise, Goku actually answered his teacher. "I'm not about to make Tien's mistake. At the moment I'm stronger than you, but if you power up I'll need to go Oozaru to have more power than you. Since I'm not about to go Oozaru in a friendly match, my best option to win is to prevent you from powering up!"

"That's a very wise strategy Goku. It is never a good idea to let your opponent become more powerful in a battle; even more so if you know that they will become more powerful than you. However," Roshi paused to deliver a powerful kick and then blasted Goku into the air in the same manner he did with Chi-Chi. Roshi immediately started gathering his energy and transformed into his maximum power state just as Goku started flying back into the ring. "You need to learn how to fight when you don't have the upper hand in strength, Goku."

Round 2 of Goku and Roshi's battle immediately started as student and teacher returned to slugging it out. Roshi's speed, strength, and experience gave him several very powerful weapons to use against Goku. However, the teen saiyan wasn't about to become his master's punching bag. Utilizing his relatively small size and lighting quick reflexes, Goku weaved around and with Roshi's attacks like a ferret from hell. Of course, even when Goku was hit he still fought back like the time Roshi punched him in the face only for Goku to kick his master's elbow.

Even giving as good as he got, Goku knew he was losing this fight. Finding an opening, Goku weaved away from one of Roshi's punches and flew up into the air. Goku floated above the stadium for a second catching his breath. His face then got serious and he screamed out, "Thundering God Fist!" Both of Goku's fists started to crackle with green energy as his ki started changing into electricity.

With his new technique in hand, Goku flew at Roshi ready to continue their fight. Roshi figured that this was some variant of his thunder shock surprise technique and tried to grab Goku's wrists. However, Goku weaved just enough so that his fists grazed Roshi sending 20,000 volts of electricity through the Turtle Hermit. Using Roshi's shock, Goku ran his hands a hairsbreadth above Roshi's arms paralyzing the muscles and then punched the old man's chest. With Roshi immobilized, Goku flipped backward and fired a Kamehameha Wave at his teacher. This Kamehameha was extra wide so it pushed Roshi out of the ring.

Goku blinked his eyes making sure that Roshi had landed outside the ring. His face light up as a big smile appeared on his face. "I did it." Goku whispered to himself. The audience was then treated to Goku jumping up and down in pure joy. "Hurray! I won the tournament!" The audience started smiling and clapping their hands in applause. Something about the child-like joy Goku had and was so freely sharing over his victory spread like wildfire. Even Roshi was smiling as the monks helped him to his feet.

The good mood of the crowd came crashing down as a voice yelled out, "Dodonpa!" A thin beam of orange energy raced from a point in the audience and shot through Goku's back and out his belly. Goku fell to arena floor in shock as the Crane Hermit flew out of the audience. Crane Hermit pulled out a short sword from his sleeve shouting out, "Now you will die Goku and my brother shall be avenged!"

Roshi tried to come to Goku's aid, but he was still paralyzed from Goku's attack. Krillin, Yamcha, and Chi-Chi jumped over the railing and ran to Goku's defense. However, they weren't moving as fast as Crane Hermit. Just as Crane Hermit was finishing his approach, he found himself surrounded by a blue glow that stopped him in his tracks. A blur then appeared and sent Crane flying into the arena with his sword impaling him. Eyes full of rage, Crane looked up at his attackers and hissed out, "You traitors!"

Tien and Chaotsu floated above their master with looks of distain and sadness. Chaotsu quickly landed next to Crane Hermit so he could treat the man's wound while Tien spoke. "Even though you are our master, we cannot let you dishonor yourself by attacking Goku in this manner sir! Now is not the time or place to battle Goku and how is it even possible to avenge a man who dishonored himself by holding innocent people hostage to try and win a tournament match?"

Fighting through the pain, Goku's voice cut through arena. "Tien, in my right boot is a Senzu Bean from the Land of Korn. If you get it, cut it in half, and give one half to each of us, both your master and I can live." Before coming to Papaya Island, Goku had made a detour to go visit Upa and his friend's father. He and Upa had climbed Korn's Tower and Korn had given him that Senzu before starting on Upa's training.

Tien blinked his eyes in shock. Goku was dying and he wanted to eat? Suddenly, he remembered the stories that his master would tell after physical training was over for the day. The Senzu Beans were supposed to feed a man for ten days or could heal a dying man to perfect health. Tien quickly pulled off Goku's boot and found the dried up old bean. He immediately broke it in two, gave one half to Goku, and then moved to give the remaining piece to his master.

Before Tien could hand the Senzu to his master, Crane spat at him. "I'd rather die than be saved by the actions of that brat!" Tien still wanted to save his master out of residual loyalty, but Crane Hermit bit his own tongue off to prevent his receiving the Senzu.

* * *

The dragonball gang, except for Chi-Chi who had left to get Goku's things, was currently squeezed into a small room that the monks used as a clinic. Currently, everyone was looking at the bed that Goku was lying on as the doctor that the monks had fetched checked him out. The doctor gave Goku a through checkup and then chuckled. "I see that the legend of the Senzu beans is true." He then turned to Roshi and said, "Don't worry about your student sir. All of his major wounds were healed leaving him with just a few minor burses. All he needs is a good night's rest and then the little champion will be good as new."

Roshi smiled and replied, "That's good to hear." Everyone in the group, including Tien and Chaotsu, was relieved to hear that news.

The doctor frowned slightly and then leaned in closer to Master Roshi. "Sir, can I speak to you in private?" Roshi frowned and nodded his head. The two started to leave the room and no body noticed except for Bulma. Curious, the genius followed the doctor and the old perv as they walked down the hall.

Once the doctor was sure that he couldn't be overheard not realizing that Bulma was tailing him, he spoke to Roshi. "I'm only telling you this because you are listed as Goku's guardian Master Roshi. We did some blood work on Goku when he first came in just incase we needed to do a transfusion. The monk who did the analysis gave me the results a few minutes ago. I'll be blunt sir, what is Goku?"

Roshi got defensive and quickly replied, "Just what kind of question is that?" Mentally, Roshi was cursing himself for not switching Goku's blood sample with the vial of his own blood he had prepared for just such an emergency. Damn it, he was so worried about Goku that he forgot to do the switch!

The doctor frowned and then replied, "Sir, to say that Goku's blood type is unique would be an understatement. It doesn't match any human blood type nor is it connected to any Anthropo Saipan blood type that we have record of in medicine. If I didn't know better, I'd say that it came from someone who didn't evolve on Earth."

That was enough for Roshi. He quickly placed the doctor under hypnosis. "There is nothing wrong with Goku's blood sample. You've found that someone has pulled a prank on you and will destroy the faulty records." The Doctor nodded his head and left to fulfill his hypnotic commands.

Bulma quickly backed away and rejoined the rest of the gang hoping that no one had noticed her absence. Silently, she wondered what could be so important about Goku that Roshi felt the need to destroy the boy's medical records. After all, wasn't he just a strong kid from the country with an unusual monkey tail? Bulma watched as Roshi rejoined the group and started talking with Goku like nothing was wrong.

A few minutes later, the dragonball gang was interrupted by the sound of monks running with medical bed. Everyone, even Goku, poked their heads out to see the monks scrambling to move a battered and bloody body to the next room. It was obvious to the fighters that even though the monks were trying their best, it was too late. Whoever they were trying to care for was already dead. Goku caught a glimpse of the person's face and whispered out in horror, "Chi-Chi."

Ox King heard Goku's whisper and yelled out, "Oh no, not Chi-Chi!" He then raced after the monks praying that Goku had been mistaken. In a few minutes Ox King returned with tears in his eyes. "My precious daughter, someone killed Chi-Chi."

Roshi walked over to his old pupil and gave the giant man a hug. "Listen Ox, we'll bring Chi-Chi back. Goku was able to resurrect his friend's father with the dragonballs so I know we can do the same for Chi-Chi!"

Ox King nodded his head and then fire started to form in his eyes. "It's not enough master! I want my daughter back, but I also want those who took her away to pay. Do you recognize this symbol master? The monks said that it was left by Chi-Chi's killer." Ox King handed Roshi a small slip of paper.

Roshi took one look at the image on the paper and almost had a heart attack. "It can't be. This is the crest of the Demon King Piccolo."

A blond haired Launch snorted, "Piccolo? You mean someone willingly admits to having such a silly name."

Roshi's eyes harden as he turned to face the dragonball gang. "This is no laughing matter! The Demon King and his spawn nearly destroyed plunged this world into eternal darkness centuries ago! No army could defeat them, cities were destroyed by the dozens and millions of people were slaughtered like animals. Crane and I were both students at the time serving under the most powerful fighter of that era: Master Mutaito. Out of three hundred students, only Crane and I survived when Piccolo's forces attacked. The only reason why human life still exists on this planet is because Mutaito used a powerful spell to trap Piccolo in a jar which Crane and I cast into the ocean so that it could never be found."

"Someone must have found Piccolo's prison and released him. Why, I don't know and at the moment it doesn't matter. All that matters is that this planet is entering into a very dark era."

Goku's face got completely serious and he spoke up. "Bulma, can you get my bag for me now?" Bulma blinked her eyes and did as she was asked. As soon as Goku had the bag, he pulled out his scouter and placed it on his face.

"Uh Goku," Krillin began. "What is that thing on your face and what are you doing with it?"

While setting up the search settings Goku replied, "It's a device that detects power levels. With this I can find exactly where Piccolo is and see just how much power he has." The scouter quickly locked onto several power signals and Goku analyzed the information he was getting. "Someone with a power of 170 is traveling rapidly away from here. That must be Chi-Chi's killer. Whoever they are, they're moving towards two individuals about 3,000 km due east of here. One has a power level of 97 and the other has a power level of 327. The one with the power level of 327 must be Piccolo while the other two must be the start of his demon army."

Goku turned off his scouter and put it away. He then turned to the dragonball gang and grinned. "Don't worry everyone, we can beat Piccolo. Both Tien and I are stronger than Chi-Chi's killer, Yamcha and Krillin are a little weaker than him but not by much, and Master Roshi at full power is almost as powerful as Piccolo himself."

Tien was shocked to hear that news. "But Goku, Master Roshi just said that Piccolo was virtually unstoppable when he last walked the Earth. How can he and Master Roshi be equals?"

Goku quickly replied, "Well Piccolo has been locked away for centuries right? That means that he couldn't train and probably lost a lot of his power. Master Roshi on the other hand has been free and has been training during that time. Thus, their both on the same level now whereas before Piccolo was much more powerful. If we all fight together, we can kill Piccolo and avenge Chi-Chi. Then we can gather the dragonballs and wish her back to life!"

* * *

Author notes: As you can see, I'm playing loose with the canon power levels at this time. Roshi's power was chosen because 1) he never was tested in his maximum power state, and 2) it makes it a little more believable in universe that he had the power to destroy the moon.

One of the reviewers was asking about whether or not Gohan will be born. He is locked into my story and will be born same time as in canon. However, I'm having a little debate with myself as to whether or not Chi-Chi should be his mother. Her DBZ personality is 180 from her DB personality and she's constantly hampering Gohan's potential. Heck, you could even lay the blame for all the trouble in the Buu Saga at her feet since if she hadn't turned Gohan into a scholar than he could have stopped Buu from hatching. If I leave Chi-Chi as Goku's wife than expect her death to wake her up to how things really are in the Dragonball world.


	4. Chapter 4

Roshi's hotel room had become a command center as the dragonball gang planned out how they were going to deal with the Demon King and his still tiny forces. A map of the area that Piccolo was sensed to be in was lying on the table surround by everyone. As the only living person to have fought against King Piccolo, Roshi started the meeting. "We need to split into two groups. One will be our heavy fighters and the other will be everyone else with one or two fighters to act as guards. The fighter group will head off to confront Piccolo and hopefully kill both him and whoever unleashed him. Krillin, Tien, Chaotsu, Goku, and I will be the fighters who will challenge King Piccolo."

"Ox King and Yamcha will act as guards for the rest of you as they should be able to deal with one or two demon spawn together. While we go to fight King Piccolo, you all will be collecting the remaining dragonballs so that we can wish Chi-Chi and anyone else that King Piccolo's men have killed. If we fail in our mission, you will need to steal back the dragonball that they took from Goku and have Shenlong destroy the Demon King."

Roshi turned to look at Goku who had shocked everyone that morning by showing up in his saiyan armor. "Since Goku has the most information on our enemy's current power and has suggested this course of action, I'd suggest we listen to any plans he has and modify them accordingly."

Goku pulled out some shogi pieces and placed them on the table. He set the reigning king at one point on the table with a silver general and a lance by it. "The king is obviously the Demon King, the silver general is Chi-Chi's killer, and the lance is the weaker power that we detected near the Demon King." Goku then pulled out the challenging king, two gold generals with the second general promoted, and two knight pieces. Pointing to the pieces in the order he set them on the table, the young saiyan elaborated. "Master Roshi, Tien, myself, Krillin, and Choutsu. We will need three different battle plans depending on who is with King Piccolo when we attack and how things go. If both minions are with King Piccolo, then Krillin and Choutsu are to engage the lower power minion, Tien will hold off Chi-Chi-s killer, and I will engage the Demon King." He then moved the pieces so that the people they represented were attacking each other. "Krillin, Choutsu, and Tien's main objective is to keep the minions for helping King Piccolo with the secondary objective of killing the minions if possible. My goal is the distract King Piccolo and keep him occupied long enough for Master Roshi to charge up his most powerful Kamehameha Wave so he can vaporize King Piccolo."

"The other two plans are variations on this basic set-up. If only one minion is with King Piccolo then Krillin and Chaotsu will engage that minion while Tien and I fight off King Piccolo while Master Roshi has powers up. On the other hand, if there are far more minions than when we last checked I will use my Oozaru transformation to destroy the minions. Krillin, in this scenario you'll be charged with protecting my false moon while Tien and Chaotsu guard Master Roshi. Are there any questions?"

Tien frowned and quickly asked, "Two things don't sit right with me. One, why are you always the one to engage King Piccolo? Second, aren't all of these plans heavily dependent on Master Roshi delivering the killing shot?"

Goku nodded his head. "That is correct Tien; I'm depending on Master Roshi to kill King Piccolo. However, this is because he is the most powerful member of our group not counting me in my Oozaru state. I'd use it to kill King Piccolo, but I'm worried that my false moon will be a weak point that he can exploit. The reason why I must face King Piccolo is because I am the second strongest fighter and thus have the best chance of holding King Piccolo off. Besides, if necessary I'll have to hold King Piccolo in place for Master Roshi to hit him. Even though we have the dragonballs, it is the most potentially lethal place in the battle and I'm not about to put someone else in that spot."

Chaotsu then chose to speak up. "Goku, I can use my telekinesis to hold King Piccolo in place."

Goku nodded his head, "Okay Chaotsu. We'll do that first before I hold him in place. Does everyone think this is a good plan?" With solemn nods, all of the fighters showed their agreement to Goku's battle plan.

* * *

King Piccolo held the four star dragonball in his hands both marveled and disgusted by the tiny item. To think that such a trinket would, with its six remaining counterparts, be able to restore him to his youth. For all his power and knowledge, that was the one thing that the great demon king couldn't do on his own. However, that knowledge and the aura emanating from the dragonball disgusted King Piccolo to his core.

There were no doubts at all in King Piccolo's mind; the dragonballs had been made by him. That being's accursed aura clung to the dragonball like flies over a dead body. It was only the fact that killing him would mean his own death that had stayed the demon king's hand last time. For a moment, King Piccolo wondered if he should use the dragonballs to sever the link he shared with him. After all, he still had a few more decades left and his minions would be more than enough to take care of the martial artists in this day and age.

After considering it very carefully, King Piccolo decided to simply stick with his original wish and then to destroy the 'eternal dragon' that was going to restore his youth. King Piccolo quickly figured that if it was possible to sever his bond with that being with the dragonballs, then that creature would have done it during his captivity. Despite how 'noble' that damned hypocrite pretended to be; that thing hated him as much as he hated it. That was the only thing they could agree on.

Mai's voice came across the intercom disturbing King Piccolo's thoughts. "Attention everyone, the fortress will be landing shortly to take on fuel. We will be on the ground for three hours to collect the necessary water to power the ship. During this time, all passengers are welcome to leave the ship and stretch their legs if they wish."

King Piccolo rolled his eyes in annoyance at the foolish mortal's prattle. Like any of his spawn were going to go 'stretch their legs', those tools only moved and even existed because he willed them so. Still, at least he could respect the mortal's loyalty to her duty; even if it was to a pipsqueak moron with an ego far bigger than it should be. That was why he tolerated the mortals on this vessel and was even seriously considering letting them live once they had outlived their usefulness. Perhaps he was getting sentimental in his old age. But then again, it wasn't like those three were a threat to him even now.

About half and hour later, King Piccolo was once again disturbed from his meditation. Except, this time it wasn't because of Mai's annoying voice, but because of an explosion rocking the ship. King Piccolo quickly looked around with his ki senses and detected four powerful people. Great, just what he did not need, a squad of martial artists who had obviously been sent to hunt him down!

For the first time since his release, King Piccolo felt fear. None of the powers he sensed were strong enough to challenge him, even in his weakened state, but they were attacking just the same. Could it be that one of them knew of the Mafuba? Who's to say that the man who sealed him in that thrice damned rice cooker hadn't passed along the secrets before he died? That's why he had Tambourine out hunting the martial artists who participated in the Tenkaichi Budokai.

King Piccolo checked on where the intruders were and frowned. The weaker two were making mince meat out of Piano while the stronger two were heading towards him. Quickly making up his mind, King Piccolo swallowed his dragonball and began to create another minion. He just couldn't chance those two beating him as a team given his current state.

The egg housing King Piccolo's newest minion was spat out just as Tien and Goku entered the throne room. Tien's face started turning green and he muttered to himself, "I think I'm going to be sick."

Goku quickly sprung into action by racing towards the egg and punching his fist into it. The young saiyan made a twisting motion with his arm a mere seconds latter a sickening snap was heard. King Piccolo and Tien watched in shock as Goku pulled his arm out of the egg along with a severed and crushed head. He then dropped the minion's head on the floor and coldly stared at King Piccolo. "This is our fight, no minions are allowed. You're going to pay for causing Chi-Chi's death!"

Tien started to back away as Goku's ki started to visibly glow. This didn't make any sense to Tien, how could Goku's power have increased so much from his match in the finals? He knew that Goku hadn't been holding back during the finals so where was all of this power coming from? What Tien didn't know about was Goku's natural saiyan ability to get stronger after every near death encounter. Down in Hell, Master Crane was being informed about that little fact by some of Goku's relatives as they played the classic party game of 'blow the moron up'.

King Piccolo and Goku quickly began mixing it up as they started a no holds bar fist fight in the throne room. Tien, quickly seeing that he was out classed, had ducked into the corridor leading into the throne room waiting for a chance to help Goku out. Tien watched as the duo completely trashed the place trying to bash each other's brains in. At one point, Goku even used the egg of the minion he had killed as a shield while King Piccolo was in the middle of slamming his throne on Goku's head.

In hindsight, using the egg as a shield was not the smartest move Goku could have made. King Piccolo was very clear on that count as he yelled out, "You insufferable mortal! How dare you touch the shell of my minion." King Piccolo shot two small beams from his eyes which Goku barely managed to doge. Tien watched with ever increasing worry as Goku and King Piccolo continued to battle with ki attacks intermixed with their fists and feet.

Soon enough, the problem dawned on Tien. Goku wasn't fighting with all of his skill! The rage and sudden boost in power had cut Goku's skill in half if not even more. A demonic grin appeared on King Piccolo's face that only grew larger as the duo fought. Tien felt a chill run down his spine realizing that the demon king knew he had the upper hand in both power and skill. Tien shouted out, "Get your head together Goku or he'll kill you!"

Goku turned his head towards Tien in surprise causing the battle lust to stop clouding his mind. Unfortunately for him, King Piccolo never thought that an opportunity was too good to pass up in battle. King Piccolo slammed his fist into Goku's gut with enough force to crack the saiyan's armor. King Piccolo immediately picked the stunned Goku up by the tail, spun him around, and then threw him at a wall with enough force to throw Goku out of the ship.

The demon king smirked at Tien and then fired a destruction wave through the hole in the wall hitting Goku. "What are you going to do boy? That rude brat was your strongest warrior and I killed him like the trash that he is."

Tien slid into a defensive stance and refused to let the demon king's comments get to him. Goku had let his rage get in the way of the plan he had crafted to take this monster out; Tien refused to do the same. Eyeing the recently created exit, Tien figured that it was in the general direction of where Roshi was powering up. All he needed to do was sent King Piccolo through that exit.

King Piccolo and Tien now started to fight a battle very differently from the one Goku and the demon king had been locked in just moments ago. Tien wasn't trying to beat King Piccolo and was constantly avoiding his attacks. While Tien was trying to avoid all of the attacks, more blows connected than he had anticipated. The triclopes was thankful for his brutal training under Tao; it allowed him to maneuver King Piccolo while making it look like he was being maneuvered. Finally, Tien got to the critical part of his plan and braced himself as King Piccolo punched him into a wall.

A smirk appeared on King Piccolo's face as he stared down at the battered and bruised Tien. He gave Tien a quick kick in the stomach which caused Tien to cry out in pain and then the demon king laughed. "Oh the irony, you foolish mortals thought that you could vanquish me like the martial artists of the bygone age. However, those annoying ants slaved away for decades in order to create a technique to seal me away. A technique which you don't have! Any last words before I kill you?"

Tien smirked and replied, "just this: Tri-beam ha!" Behind Tien's back, the triclopes's hands were position in a triangle. Using the force of his attack, Tien rocketed towards King Piccolo and gave him a powerful kick with both his feet. The kick sent King Piccolo flying out the hole that Goku had been sent through. Tien collapsed on the ground about a foot away from the entrance and was completely exhausted from putting everything he had into that kick. The last thing Tien saw before he closed his eyes was the blue glow of a massive Kamahameha wave flying directly towards King Piccolo.

* * *

Goku opened his eyes to find that he was lying on the back bench of a capsule cargo plane. Krillin walked over to Goku and called out, "Hey buddy, welcome back from dreamland."

The young saiyan sat up and quickly noticed that his armor was gone. Krillin saw the question in Goku's eyes and nodded to a crate on the other side of the plane. "Master Roshi took that armor of yours off so you could rest easier. It's pretty banged up, but if it wasn't for that armor of yours you would be with Chi-Chi now. Where did you get it anyway? Master Roshi couldn't recognize it and he's seen a lot of different sets of armors over his lifetime."

A scowl appeared on Goku's face and he briskly replied, "It's an heirloom from my birth kin." Krillin was shocked to hear Goku mention his blood relatives. As far has he had known Goku had been left in the woods as a baby only to be found by Goku's grandfather. Part of Krillin wanted to ask Goku about what he had learned about his birth family, but the look in the young saiyan's eyes killed those questions before they could form on his tongue.

Goku got off the bench and walked up towards the front of the plane. He spotted Roshi at the controls and bowed his head at Roshi's back. "Master Roshi, I want to apologize for letting my anger at King Piccolo get the better of me. I hope that we were able to win in spite of my lack of control."

Roshi sighed and replied, "Don't worry Goku, you didn't do anything wrong. Even the best warriors can loose their cool when someone they care about has been hurt or killed by someone. However, you've done two very important things that separate you from other people who have made this mistake. First, you recognize the mistake and knowing you, you won't make it again. Secondly, you insured with your plan that your mission could still be achieved even though you lost your wits."

His trademark smile returned to Goku's face when he heard the last bit of Roshi's speech. "So Master Roshi, does that mean that we won?"

Unseen by Goku, Roshi's solemn face frowned. "No Goku, King Piccolo is still alive. The plan worked perfectly except for one thing: human error. I was so busy concentrating on gathering all my power that I barely noticed when Tien sent King Piccolo into the air. I hastily fired the Kamehameha wave I had been preparing and only took off his arm and part of his shoulder. Such a blow would have killed a normal man, but the demon king was able to regenerate his damaged body good as new. I was too exhausted and could only watch as King Piccolo fled the area obviously worried that we might have another fighter to challenge him."

Goku slipped into the copilot's seat and looked out at the dawn sky from the plane's cockpit. After a few seconds Goku said, "Master Roshi? Do you think that we should train some more before facing King Piccolo again or are we going at this the wrong way?"

"If you had asked me that question before the tournament Goku, I would have said that we had no chance against King Piccolo. However, we nearly beat him which is something I never dreamed was possible before. Although we lost the element of surprise, I have full confidence that we can defeat King Piccolo one and for all in good time. We just need to do some more training to truly prepare ourselves. Unless, you happen to have something else in that otherworldly bag of tricks you have that can give us an edge."

Goku's eyes bulged in shock. "How did you know?"

Roshi's eyes lit up with mischievous mirth. "Come now Goku, surely you didn't think that your grandfather was completely silent on your origins? He confessed everything to me in order to insure that someone was around who could help you if anything happened to him. I helped him file all the necessary paperwork so that he was your legal guardian. I was also able to call in some old favors that insured no social workers ever came after you when your grandfather died. I had my sister check up on you from time to time back before you met Bulma to make sure you were doing alright. My original plan after Gohan died was to simply let you live on Gohan's estate at peace and alone. No offense, but I figured a happy life by yourself would be better than constantly having to hide yourself because of your unusual nature."

The young saiyan nodded his head accepting and understanding what Roshi had told him. There was a moment of silence before Chaotsu entered the cockpit. "Master Roshi and Goku, Bulma is on the videophone. She stated that they just got the sixth dragonball." The trio quickly left the cockpit to talk with Bulma. Roshi paused just long enough to put the plane on autopilot.

Bulma was smiling as the trio entered the video cam's view. "Hey guys! We've got the six remaining dragonballs. All we need is the one that was stolen from Goku and we're set to bring back Chi-Chi."

Goku's face lost most of its normal joy and settled on an expression of cold seriousness. "We don't have the dragonball. King Piccolo managed to escape from us so be on your guard-"

The sounds of an explosion on Bulma's end abruptly cut Goku off in mid sentence. Bulma wasn't paying any attention to the guys anyone as she looked around to try and find the source of the explosion. Muted cries of agony and diabolical laughter could faintly be heard over the videophone. Roshi backed out, "Turn off the phone and hide Bulma! It's got to be King Piccolo."

The fear was clear as daylight in Bulma's eyes as she turned off the videophone. Roshi turned off the monitor on his end and turned to face the younger martial artists. "There's nothing we can do now but pray. Goku, I want you use that device of yours to check King Piccolo's power once the sky turns black. With luck, it will increase."

Krillin shouted, "What? Why the hell would you want that monster to get even stronger?"

Roshi raised an eyebrow and calmly replied, "I can think of only two possible things that a creature like the demon king could wish for: immortality or the return of his youth. If he becomes young again his power will undoubtedly increase. However, even a far stronger opponent is better in this situation than an opponent that can't be killed." Roshi's words hit home as the sky turned pitch black signaling that somewhere in the world, Shenlong was being summoned.

* * *

For two nerve fraying hours, the dragonball gang's finest warriors flew towards the location that Bulma had called them at not knowing what they would find. The scene that greeted the warriors was heart wrenching. Oolong and Puar were left skewered on the plane's antenna. Yamcha's corpse had a basketball sized hole in his chest. The burnt wood and the giant skeleton marked where Ox King fell. Bulma was alive, but had been left badly hurt in the plane wreckage. Launch was alive having gone to the woods for a bathroom break before King Piccolo attacked, but she was stuck in a catatonic state because her good side witnessed such barbarity. However, the most terrifying sight was the seven stone balls lying in the sand that could only be the dragonballs.

The warriors quickly gathered their surviving comrades. Tien led Launch back to Roshi's cargo plane. Goku and Krillin made a makeshift stretcher to bring Bulma into the plane. Chaotsu collected the inactive dragonballs while Roshi took upon himself the grim task of burying everyone. Once everyone's tasks were completed, the remaining members of the dragonball gang took off for the Land of Korin.

Goku had been the one to suggest going to Korin. They could get Bulma healed with a senzu and get some advice from the old feline master at the same time. After that five hour plane ride, Goku used the Kinto'un to carry Launch and Bulma up to Korin. Everyone else followed up the Tower by climbing it and reached the top an hour later. By that time, Goku and Korin had gotten the girls healed, put to bed, and Korin had been fully apprised of the situation.

Korin frowned into his tea cup as he looked around at the other warriors gathered at his table. "This is a very serious matter now that King Piccolo has been restored to his youth. As you were coming here, I saw that he has already taken over the Eastern Capital. No doubt, he will soon force the King to hand over the throne of the planet to him. The question is: how do we proceed?"

Krillin looked at Korin and asked, "Uh, couldn't you train Tien, Chaotsu, and I like you did Goku? I mean, wouldn't it be a step in the right direction to have the three of us become more powerful?"

The white cat shook his head. "I'm afraid my training wouldn't do much for you three. The 'Sacred Water' that the people of this land talk about is merely a gimic I created to train people in speed, relaxes, endurance, and coping with fighting in the thin atmosphere that being so high up creates. At your current levels the 'sacred water' training I gave Goku would produce very little real gain."

Tien frowned and then added his two zenie. "How was King Piccolo sealed in the first place? I mean, if it's been done once it can be done again."

Roshi quickly spoke up. "My master sealed King Piccolo away using the Mafuba. I know the theory behind the technique, but I haven't practiced it in centuries because it can easily kill the user. I've thought about using it on King Piccolo, but I'm just not sure if I'd be able to get close enough to him to use it and if I could successfully seal him."

Goku slammed his fist on the table making everyone jump in shock. "Sealing King Piccolo away is not the answer. That's simply leaving the problem for someone else to handle like the situation we're in now. We need to destroy him once and for all."

Korin nodded his head. "Well said, young Goku. However, there is a vast difference between saying something and doing something. King Piccolo has gotten even stronger than he was before. Do you have any idea how to beat him?"

The young saiyan closed his eyes and nodded his head. "Yes I do. I'll need you guys to beat me up within an inch of my life, use the senzu to heal me, and then repeat the process until I'm at least as strong as King Piccolo."

Tien, Krillin, Chaotsu, and Korin all screamed out, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING GOKU?" Roshi raised both his eyebrows in wonder. Such a 'training' system wouldn't help a human at all. But, since Goku wasn't human, could it be different for whatever race he was?

Goku took a sip of his tea to calm his nerves. Now wasn't the time for secrets. "I'm not human guys. Unlike you, I have the ability to get stronger after every near death encounter I live through. It's what allowed me to get so much stronger than Tien after the finals when Master Crane tried to kill me. Before the finals, our power was almost the same. We can use that ability to make me strong enough to beat King Piccolo. Also, we do have my Oozaru form to unleash since I very much doubt he'll be suspecting a trick like that."

To the other martial artists' surprise, Roshi quickly spoke up. "Goku, what about your natural limits? Your grandfather never found much information on your race's abilities. What if you're ability to get stronger after every near death experience simply gets you closer to your potential's ceiling quicker? Or worse, what if you trade some power now by lowering your ultimate potential?"

Krillin made a time out gesture with his hands. "Hold the phone, you mean Goku isn't pulling our legs with that not human line?"

In reply Goku had his tail wave back and forth like a charmed snake. He then pointed to his tail and said, "Why do you think I have a tail and turn into a giant ape whenever I look at a full moon?" Krillin fell face first onto the table signaling his defeat. Goku then turned to Roshi and replied, "Don't worry Master Roshi; there isn't any such ceiling to worry about. Anyone can get stronger if they have the will and put in the effort. My race's abilities simply allow them to get stronger faster. That's one of the main facts I learned about my race from my spacepod."

Trying to bring the conversation back to the mater at hand Korin said, "I have another possibility. I have an elixir known as the Ultra Divine Water. Unlike my Sacred Water gimmick, this stuff is the real thing. It can bring out a person's potential that would take years sometimes decades of intense training to achieve. However, there is a catch. The Ultra Divine Water is also a powerful poison that tries to kill a person as a result of bringing out a person potential. Only someone with tremendous strength and a will to live can survive the process and have their potential unleashed. I've witness 14 powerful warriors take the Ultra Divine Water and all of them died. The pervious gate guard before me told me that she had witness 20 people take the water and only 1 person lived."

Before a morbid silence could descend on the group, Goku jumped up and thumped his chest. "I'll take the Ultra Divine Water Korin. Can you pour me a cup?"

Tien turned to Goku and replied, "Are you serious Goku? 33 people who drunk the Ultra Divine Water have died!"

Goku gave the triclopes his patented grin and replied, "But your forgetting that 1 person survived. That means that there's a chance this will work and as long as there's a chance of getting strong enough to stop King Piccolo from hurting innocence people I have to pursue it."

Krillin looked down for a few second and then firmly looked at everyone. "I'll have a glass of the Ultra Divine Water as well. I'm not going to let Goku go this alone. Besides, if he doesn't make it I might get lucky and get the strength to beat King Piccolo. After all, there is a chance."

One by one, each of the fighters stated that they'd take their chances with the Ultra Divine Water. After seeing the resolve in their eyes, Korin left to retrieve the elixir. He returned a few minutes later with a tea kettle and six cups. The cat saw the looks everyone was sending him and calmly replied, "If you're all taking a shot at this I figure I might as well try this stuff again. Hopefully, I won't need to spit it out like last time." Korin then set the tea cups down and filled them.

Roshi took his cup like he was making a toast and said, "Well guys I just have this to say. May we all get strong enough to beat King Piccolo. Failing that, let's just hope we meet some hot chicks on the other side, bottoms up!" With that said everyone chugged down their cup of the Ultra Divine Water and fell to the floor in agony as it began to work.


	5. Chapter 5

Bulma groggily woke up as the sun started to shine on Korin's Tower. For a few seconds the young genius wondered where she was and then started shivering as the memories of King Piccolo's assault rushed at her. It was only because of her memories of being rescued by everyone that stopped Bulma from breaking down in tears. King Piccolo wasn't here. Goku and the other guys would have to have taken to someplace safe.

After taking a few minutes to calm her nerves, Bulma looked around the room trying to figure out where she was. Wherever she was, it wasn't one of the gang's normal hangouts. The Spartan room reminded her of a monastery. Must be some place Goku had wandered by over the years. After all, how could Roshi know about a monastery let alone be let in? The old perv would probably set off every evil ward at a temple with his lecherousness.

Bulma got out of bed and grumbled for a few seconds about sleeping in a bloody and torn outfit. She only half heartedly grumbled since it wasn't like she wanted any of the guys to change her. The young genius pulled out a capsule, used it to bring out her emergency wardrobe and spa set, and spent the next hour cleaning up and refreshing herself. Occasionally, Bulma would glance over at the bed Launch was resting on with concern. Part of Bulma wished that 'evil' Launch had been around to see King Piccolo's attack. At least then 'good' Launch wouldn't have to have seen such a sight. Nice Launch was simply too innocent to deal with such a sight.

Once Bulma was fixed up, she left the room and began to wander around trying to find everyone. The first room she passed was full of pot stuffed with beans. Next was obviously the room that Tien and Chaotsu had claimed since the Crane emblem could be seen poking out one of the packs. She then passed Roshi's room and after that Korin's bedroom although she didn't know who it belonged to. The last room that Bulma passed was Goku and Krillin's bedroom. A gleam of light caught Bulma's eyes and she quickly saw that it was the sunlight reflecting off of Goku's scouter.

Curiosity ensnared Bulma and she quickly walked over and picked the scouter up off of Goku's bag. Bulma carefully put the scouter on like she remembered Goku doing and turned it on. The scouter quickly detected the six warriors on the upper level of the tower's temple. However, Bulma just scratched her head. "What's going on? How was Goku able to use this device? It's obviously working, but this isn't any alphabet I've ever seen."

The young genius turned the scouter off and started digging in Goku's bag. Normally, she wouldn't have violated her friend's privacy like this. However, things weren't making much sense to Bulma and she needed to get to the bottom of things. She quickly found a notebook and opened it half expecting to find Goku's journal. The notebook was filled with technical sketches of the scouter with all of the notes written in the same language Bulma saw on the scouter screen. As she flipped threw the pages she saw more sketches on a number of items including the armor she had seen Goku wear and of all things a spacepod. What was Goku up to?

Bulma put down the handwritten technical guide and spotted another notebook in Goku's bag. Slightly hesitant, but still extremely curious, Bulma picked it up and started to leaf through it. There was more of that strange writing, but this book also had normal writing she could read. Bulma read down the list and whispered out, "Oh my god." This notebook was nothing more than conversion tables for finding the materials needed in the first notebook. For those materials which didn't have a human made counterpart, Goku had written instructions for how to make the materials out of what was available.

Like a light bulb turning on, everything fell into place for Bulma. Goku's tail, his strange ability to turn into a giant monkey, the weird blood work that the doctor had mentioned before Roshi hypnotized him, and the strange technology he had which included plans for a spaceship. It could only mean one thing; Goku had to be an alien.

After getting over that shock, Bulma quickly decided that it didn't really mater what Goku was. The planet was currently being attack by a demon from a bygone era, so what was so strange about an alien being on the planet? Besides, Goku was a better friend than a lot of humans she could name.

The sound of a groan coming from the hallway caused Bulma to hurriedly put everything back the way she had found it. She then left Goku and Krillin's room following the sounds of the moaning and groaning. Bulma quickly reached the temple's main open air hall and saw everyone lying around clutching their stomachs in pain. After blinking in confusion, Bulma spotted a cup that still had a few drops of Ultra Divine Water. She picked up the cup and briefly tasted the Ultra Divine Water before spitting it out. "What the hell? Were you guys trying to commit mass suicide by poisoning and botched the job up?"

As if by cue, Goku's eyes opened up and he let out a primal roar. Visible ki started to flare from the young saiyan and the air started to crackle around him with power. The hairs on the back of Bulma's neck stood strait up and she back away in fear. One by one, the other fighters awoke and followed Goku's lead letting their new powers flare.

* * *

Several minutes of chatting and one breakfast later, everyone in the tower including Launch was up and ready to figure out what they would do. Finally Korin took over and said, "The Ultra Divine Water did what it was supposed to do. Chaotsu and Krillin are near Roshi's old strength. Tien has enough power that he could have killed King Piccolo by himself before the demon king's youth was restored. Roshi and I both have enough power to challenge King Piccolo even though he is still more powerful than us. As for Goku, your power is almost as much above King Piccolo's power as his is above Roshi and me."

"Still, even with the power we now have we cannot rush in to beat King Piccolo. As hard as it may be to accept, we all need some time to adjust to our new powers. The problem is that in the time it will take us to train King Piccolo will undoubtedly have recreated his demonic army."

Goku quickly spoke up. "I'll be able to take care of his army. King Piccolo created several new soldiers last night and all of them were around Chi-Chi's killer in power level. I can go Oozaru and decimate any army that's sent against me at that power level." Goku paused long enough to look Korin and Roshi both in the eyes. "I'm being completely serious. My Oozaru state is usually supposed to be used to against large masses of enemies or someone who's far too powerful for me to beat in my normal state."

Roshi nodded his head accepting what Goku told everyone. "Well, that solves what to do about the demonic army. If necessary, Korin and I can double team King Piccolo if Goku is too worn out to fight. It would probably be best if the rest of you were to either help Goku clear out the demon army or to hang back and attack King Piccolo if Korin and I fail to kill him. After all, he should be weakened to the point in such a scenario where any of you could kill him. We can finalize any plans for our assault during our training."

Tien then said, "It sounds like we have a plan that will work. Still, is there anything we can do to increase the odds in our favor? We are dealing with the fate of the planet here."

"Um," Bulma hesitantly spoke up. "I could make you all some suits of armor like Goku had. Provided Goku hands me the instructions and helps with some of the translation. I saw part of the instructions in one of your books Goku."

Not really bothered at the idea of Bulma snooping around, or perhaps it was simply some residual naivety left in him, Goku grinned. "That's great Bulma. My armor really saved my bacon when King Piccolo attacked me. If it hadn't been for that armor I would have ended up like Yamcha."

Things were quickly settled by the dragonball gang. Bulma would leave for one of Capsule Corp.'s auxiliary labs with copies of Goku's notes relating to his armor in order to make new armor for everyone. All of the fighters left for the Yunzabit Heights so they could train with the least probability of being detected by King Piccolo. Launch went with them as the group cook. It was agreed that they'd all meet back at Korin's Tower in a week to launch the assault. Originally, Roshi wanted to have 14 days of training, but King Piccolo's decision to blow up a city to celebrate his ascension as king of the world cut down the training time.

* * *

One week later, Earth's unknown team of heroes was being flown towards the newly renamed Pandemonium City to take out King Piccolo. All of the fighters were dressed in armor that looked almost exactly like something that would become very fashionable on Yardrat in the next decade. However Bulma's armor included armor for both shoulders, boots, greaves, and vambraces. Bulma had also been able to improve the formula for the composites that made the armor granting them twice the resistance to ki attacks that Goku's old armor.

Bulma dropped the fighters off by one of the camps that the former residents of Eastern Capital had set up after being driven from the city. The plane took off as soon as the fighters were off so that Bulma could go some ways away to set up the moon projector she had built. Fuzzy, the now former King of Earth, was the first to approach the six warriors. "What are you men doing here?"

Roshi turned to Fuzzy and bowed his head. "King Fuzzy, we're here to put an end to King Piccolo."

A look a panic filled Fuzzy's face. "Please sirs, I beg of you to flee. I don't have any doubts that you are all strong men, but King Piccolo's power is beyond your imagination. For your own sakes, please leave and find somewhere to hide so that you can be safe."

Korin stepped forward drawing a lot of people's attention to the fact that a cat was wearing battle armor. "With all due respect your highness; we know exactly what we're facing. Everyone I'm with has fought against King Piccolo before trying to prevent this deplorable situation for ever happening and nearly was able to stop it. King Piccolo was only able to narrowly escape with his life and we're all much stronger now than we were before. King Piccolo was defeated once long ago and he's about to be defeated again."

Just as Korin finished speaking, a projection of the full moon appeared in the sky. Krillin took one look at the projection and grinned. "Alright Goku, do your thing and send these demons back to hell."

Fuzzy and the other nearby residents of the refuge camp watch in awe and amazement as Goku transformed into his Oozaru state. Goku roared out, "KING PICCOLO, WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!" He then launched a ki blast from his mouth into the city blowing up a city block and a den of King Piccolo's minions. The five remaining warriors quickly jumped up and climbed aboard Goku's kaju like frame. As soon as everyone was aboard, Goku smashed threw the city wall like a kid running through a stack of foam blocks.

Pandemonium City instantly went from being demon capital of the world to insanity capital of the world as Goku went to town like Godzilla on Tokyo. The oozaru saiyan was throwing skyscrapers at supersonic speeds towards his enemies and creating massive craters with his mouth blast attack. King Piccolo's spawn were dying in droves by Goku's hands as the city's remaining gas mains exploded creating a fiery inferno. Occasionally, one of the marital artists on the Goku express train to hell would take care of a demon spawn or two that managed to survive when Goku took out a cluster. However, that didn't happen very often as Goku was very through in his extermination of the minion pest.

Up in the world palace King Piccolo gazed upon Goku's monstrous form with fear. "How can this be? How could this pathetic planet give rise to a being so much more powerful than me?" Not even King Piccolo's pride could protect him from the pure unadulterated power radiating from Goku. The oozaru glanced at the palace, opened his mouth, and fired a beam right next to the palace taking out minion breading facility King Piccolo had created. After all, he wasn't about to spend all his time making eggs and had created a few minions who could spawn others. Now, they were all deep fried.

Hidden on Goku's shoulders, Krillin watch in awe as Goku continued destroying the city and the minions. After shooting down a rogue minion, Krillin called out to Korin. "This is insane. How can Goku keep on generating so much power? I mean, I know this form gives him ten times his normal power, but shouldn't he be losing some steam?"

Korin deflected some debris with his cane and quickly shot back. "I believe this form also increases Goku's ability to regenerate his energy as well as increasing it. Besides, I think Goku is also drawing in energy from the false moon somehow. I've noticed that Goku looks at it from time to time and felt his energy rise a bit afterwards."

On the other shoulder, Tien was shooting low level Dodonpas at several wounded minions. No need to let them heal and attack later. Chaotsu had his eyes closed and was telepathically talking with Goku and using Goku's eye to see. Chaotsu was using his telekinetic powers to slow down minions from spreading out whenever Goku targeted a bunch. Thanks to Chaotsu and Goku's teamwork, only a few minions were getting through.

Back in the palace, King Piccolo knew he needed to do something or he'd be destroyed by Goku. His pride in his strength and his rage at this insurrection didn't matter to him. All that mattered was finding a way to beat the beast challenging him. Suddenly, an idea came to the demon king. Stretching out his arms King Piccolo mentally called to his remaining minions, "My servants! Give me your energy so that I might slay this beast and avenge our comrades!"

All across Pandemonium City, the surviving minions shriveled up and dropped to the ground as they sent all their energy to King Piccolo. Goku blinked his eyes in confusion as he felt the strands of energy start to converge on the palace. What was going on? Suddenly Roshi called out form on top of Goku's head. "It's King Piccolo, he's getting stronger!"

As soon as Roshi said this, King Piccolo broke through the palace roof gaining admittance to the kaju club. King Piccolo used the energy from his remaining minions to grow in stature and power until he rivaled Goku's oozaru form. He glared at Goku and called out, "Now you will see why it's useless to challenge the demon king!"

Thanks to Chaotsu, Goku and the other warriors were able to change tactics. Goku and King Piccolo quickly got into a martial arts match with the city as their ring. At the same time, everyone who had previously been on Goku jumped ship and like parasites seeking a new host landed on King Piccolo. While getting tossed around like a wrestler in a cage match, King Piccolo quickly discovered that it is very hard to fight when you have five comparatively insect sized fighters climbing all over you insisting on being pains in the butt. In Roshi's case, he was literally a pain in the butt when he fired a Kamehameha Wave into King Piccolo's ass.

For ten minutes Goku and King Piccolo brawled in the now ruined city. While King Piccolo was able to get several good hits in, Goku was clearly dominating their battle. Ever since the battle started Goku had been the more powerful warrior and he had far more experience in fighting as a giant. His friends' constant interference merely rigged the match for him. Finally, Goku wore King Piccolo down to a point where he could finish him. Everyone abandoned the S.S. Demon King as Goku grabbed King Piccolo's leg and tossed him into the air.

Unknown to Goku, news helicopters had been recording his battle with King Piccolo and transmitting the footage throughout the world. All across the globe, people huddled by their TVs praying that Goku would deliver them from King Piccolo's tyranny. Thanks to high powered microphones, everyone heard as Goku began to chant out the Kamehameha Wave and watched as he shot the massive beam into the air at King Piccolo. The Kamehameha Wave struck King Piccolo dead on vaporizing his legs, almost all of his chest, and most of his arms before it continued on into space.

Everyone around the world broke out into cheers as what remained of King Piccolo's body shrunk and stated to fall back to Earth. However, no one, not even Goku or his companions, noticed that King Piccolo wasn't quite dead yet. With his dying breath, King Piccolo made one last egg and shot it off over the horizon. The demon king died with a smirk on his face. Let these foolish mortals have their victory, was his final thought, because in the end his son would avenge him.

* * *

It took the dragonball gang almost ten hours to return to Korin Tower after King Piccolo's death. Apparently, people were eager to swarm the man who had saved them from a tyrant who had caused more destruction in one week than any three previous kings had done in their entire reigns combined. Luckily, Bulma was able to bail Goku's fat out of the fire by first getting him to vocally claim Capsule Corporation as his sponsor. With that confirmation she was able to tell all of the reporters to take it up with the public relations department of CC.

Even though the group had been able to fend off the vultures that were masquerading as reporters, they weren't able to fend off the well wishers. In all honesty, it was almost impossible to resist the heartfelt thanks of the camp dwellers. The now restored King Fuzzy quickly ordered a party to celebrate King Piccolo's defeat. This resulted in a three hour delay for the dragonball gang and oozaru sized headaches when they woke up the next morning at the Tower.

Once the living dead were fully revived, the dragonball gang was gathered around Korin's dinner table trying to figure out what they should do next. Bulma glanced over at the box holding the seven stone dragonballs and sighed. "I guess we're just going to have to wait a year until we can revive Yamcha and the others."

Korin frowned and solemnly said, "Things aren't that simple. The dragonballs aren't supposed to remain in the area where Shenlong has been summoned after granting a wish. I've examined a dragonball after a wish was granted once long ago and I can tell you that something very wrong has happened. Even in stone form, the dragonballs are supposed to have a series of magical protections on them that prevent them from being damaged. I can faintly sense these protections emanating from the dragonballs, but is almost like the protections have been turned off. Who knows what caused this or if whatever caused this has affected Shenlong's powers."

"What?" Krillin blurted out in shock, "You mean that Shenlong won't be able to bring back everyone?"

Korin shook his head. "I never said that Krillin. I said that something has damaged the magic protecting the dragonballs. Whether or not this has affected Shenlong's powers remains to be seen, but we must acknowledge the possibility that this might prevent us from reviving all of our friends."

Tien frowned and said, "Surely there's a way to repair whatever damage has happened to the dragonballs? I know that they are mystical artifacts, but even so they must have been created somehow. If they were created then surely they can be repaired."

Everyone turned to look at Korin hoping he might have some answers. The white cat frowned as he thought and then gave his answer. "There is someone who would know for sure, Shenlong's creator Kami, the god of this world." After a round of gasps from everyone, Korin continued. "Yes, I know this might come as a shock to you, but god really did create the dragonballs. Who else did you think could have made them? Since he made them, we'll have to ask Kami what is wrong with the dragonballs and if necessary beseech him to repair them."

Coming out of her shock, Bulma asked, "and just how do we do that Korin? I mean, it's not like god's address can be looked up on a web browser."

Korin grinned, "Luckily, I know where god resides. His palace floats high above this tower beyond our sight. Its magic makes it impossible for it to be reached by normal methods like a plane or rocket ship unless he specifically wills it. However, we do have a method of reaching his palace. On the top of this tower is a spot where one can place the Nyoi-bo and by willing it to extend the staff will take someone to Kami's lookout. That is the true purpose of the Nyoi-bo. The only reason I gave it to Roshi is I figured that after so long there wouldn't be a person worthy of an audience with Kami. This is because whoever journeys by this method must first have the strength to climb this tower and have a heart as pure as snow. Such a combo is almost impossible to find."

Roshi quickly spoke up. "What about Goku? He's proven that he doesn't have any evil in his heart and was able to climb this tower years ago. Couldn't he leave for an audience with Kami?"

Korin quickly nodded his head. "I was just about to suggest that myself. Goku is the only one of us worthy of meeting Kami and thus it is up to him to find out what has happened to the dragonballs. However, before Goku goes, I want to say this." Korin stopped for a second to look Goku in the eyes. "I have one bit of advice when you visit Kami. Know that you've seen his face before only at the time it was worn by an enemy."

* * *

After an hour of constantly being attacked by thunderclouds, something that Goku wasn't expecting since Korin's tower was above the clouds, Goku finally reached Kami's Lookout. Goku quickly climbed to the top of the Lookout and looked out at the palace and the island gardens around it. He took a few deep breaths and muttered to himself. "Strange, why am I so winded when I haven't done anything?"

Suddenly a voice beside Goku spoke up. "It's the thin atmosphere here. There's barely enough oxygen for a person to live so you have to conserve every movement. Any wasteful motions will quickly leave you exhausted."

Goku whipped his head around to spot Mr. Popo standing next to him. For the next hour Goku tried to see Kami, but Mr. Popo was adamant that Goku wasn't ready to see Kami. Finally Kami decided to end the duo's little argument by coming out and meeting Goku.

The young saiyan froze as soon as Kami's face left the shadows. Calmly staring back at him was the wrinkled face of King Piccolo before his youth had been restored. Goku's hands immediately turned into fists and it was only Korin's warning that stopped Goku from attacking the Piccolo look alike. Desperately trying to keep his battle lust in check, Goku firmly asked, "Am I correct that you are Kami?"

Kami nodded his head. "That is correct young Goku. I am Kami, the god of this world. I see that my appearance disturbs you. Let me put your mind at ease, the reason why King Piccolo and I look alike is because once, long ago, we were the same being. Before I became the god of this world, I had too much darkness in my heart and through deep meditation was able to expel it from my being. Sadly, this darkness took on a life of its own as King Piccolo who, much to my shame, has been a plague to the people of Earth."

For a few minutes Goku just stood where he was thinking about what Kami told him. Kami's tale struck a cord deep within Goku's heart. He too struggled with an inner darkness; only his was the darkness of what his race had become. Finally, the young saiyan looked Kami in the eye and asked, "Sir, I came here because something has happened to the dragonballs. My friends and I are worried that we won't be able to wish everyone back. Do you know what has happened to them?"

A solemn expression covered Kami's face. "King Piccolo killed Shenlong after his youth was restored. In all honesty, I think it is for the best. When I made the dragonballs, they were supposed to be a source of hope for the people of Earth. However, they've become nothing but a source of pain as people have sought them for their own selfish desires."

To Kami's surprise, Goku got on his knees and started to beg. "Sir, the dragonballs haven't just been a source of pain. Thanks to them, a little boy has his father back that was killed in front of him. Many of my friends were able to meet and find good friends just by searching for the dragonballs. As for people seeking them for selfish desires, most people don't believe that the dragonballs exist. To them it's a comforting tale. Please Kami; can't you restore Shenlong so that all the people killed by King Piccolo can be revived?"

Kami looked deep into Goku's eyes and then sighed. "Very well Goku, because of your selfless defense of others I shall restore Shenlong. However, your friend Bulma must hand over the 'dragon radar' and promise to never make another one unless I or the next god of Earth gives her permission. Such a device makes it too easy to gather all the dragonballs making the temptation to abuse them far too great. If there ever arises a time in the future when Shenlong is needed, I will allow a champion such as yourself to use the radar to collect the dragonballs. For any other wish one must search for the dragonballs the old fashion way. This is the only condition I put on Shenlong's revival. Once I have the dragon radar, I will revive Shenlong and we can talk about other pressing matters."

Once Kami finished talking, Goku ran towards the edge of the lookout, slid down the stairs, and then free fell from the lookout with his tail wrapped so that he couldn't fall away from the Nyoi-bo. A little over an hour later Goku returned with a smile and the dragon radar in hand. He cheerfully handed it over to Kami. "Here you go, Bulma says she won't make any more dragon radars, but is going to leave me some blueprints in case the need arises for the radar to be repaired or to make a new one."

Kami nodded his head and replied, "I supposed that is good enough." He then had Popo bring out Shenlong's statue and revived the dragon. Kami then said, "As a favor for you Goku, I've allowed Shenlong to return to the dragonballs fully powered so that your friends can revive everyone now instead of waiting a year."

Goku jumped up and gave Kami a hug much to the green god and Mr. Popo's surprise. "Thank you Kami, thank you! I can't wait to see Chi-Chi, Yamcha, and everyone else again."

The young saiyan got off of Kami and was just about to turn and leave. However, Kami called out. "Goku, there's something we have to talk about."

Goku turned and looked at Kami. "What is it sir?"

Kami sighed and replied, "Your victory over King Piccolo was not as total as you think young Goku. While you did kill King Piccolo, he had time to create one more egg before he died. This egg does not contain a mere minion like the ones you killed. Inside this egg rests King Piccolo's heir. I can sense that even now, mere hours after his birth, this son has all the power King Piccolo ever had with potential to grow far stronger and burning desire to avenge his father. Also, I felt as King Piccolo imparted all of his memories onto this heir so that he would know who to kill in order to avenge his father."

A serious look crossed Goku's face. "Why are you telling me this Kami?"

"I'm telling you this Goku because I wish to train you to defeat King Piccolo's heir. I doubt that you will be able to use that transformation of yours again in battle since King Piccolo's memories will tell him that the moon was the key to your transformation. As you are now you have a lot of power, but you don't know how to truly and completely control it. King Piccolo's heir will have all of his father's experience and thus far more control than you. You will need everything you can get if you are to survive."

"Still, there is some good news in all of this. Knowing how my darker half thought, I believe that his heir will not make a move against you or your friends until the next Tenkaichi Budokai. That will give us three years to train you Goku. Do you accept?"

Goku nodded his head and replied, "When can we begin?"


	6. Chapter 6

Piccolo, having decided he might as well use his father's name, the prince of demons was floating in the wastelands. A scowl covered Piccolo's teenager like face as his eyes tried to figure out where the blasted thing was hiding. Finally, luck smiled on the demon prince as sunlight started to gleam off of something in a mountain crevice. Piccolo smirked and quickly flew to the crevice. He quickly reached in and pulled out a dragonball.

A month ago Piccolo had stumbled upon the five star dragonball during his training. Naturally, he had been shocked to see the gleaming dragonball knowing that his father had killed Shenlong. Once Piccolo got over his shock he realized that this was a golden opportunity for him. The dragonballs were the key to his victory over Goku. With the five-star ball in hand, the young namekian flew off to the cave that was his temporary base.

Once Piccolo arrived at the cave, he headed to the back and started digging. After a few minutes he created a ten foot deep hole and uncovered six dragonballs. Piccolo scooped up the six dragonballs so he held the complete set and walked out of the cave. He then placed them on the ground and called out, "Eternal dragon, by your name I summon you: Shenlong!"

The sky darkened and the dragonballs glowed as Shenlong was summoned. In a deep and powerful voice the dragon said, "You who have gathered the seven dragonballs, speak now your wish. I shall grant any that is within my power."

Piccolo gulped as he looked up at Shenlong. Even with the memories of his father, the sight of Shenlong in the flesh was a very impressive sight for the two and a half year old warrior. Quickly regaining his cool, Piccolo said his wish. "My father held far more power before separating with that bastard Kami then he did afterward. I wish that I had the power my father wielded before the separation!"

Shenlong made a low growl before he gave his answer. "Such a thing is beyond my power. To grant you all of the power your father wielded before his separation with Kami would require the joining of both body and spirit between you and Kami. However, it is within my power to restore the power lost because of the physical separation. Is this modification of your wish acceptable or does your heart desire something else?"

A scowl graced Piccolo's face and he snorted. "Fine, I wish that I had the power my father lost because of his physical separation with Kami!" Even a partial power up was better than no power up.

The eternal dragon's eyes glowed and he growled out, "Your wish has been granted. Until the next summoning," with that said, Shenlong disappeared and the dragonballs shot off into the horizon.

Piccolo blinked his eyes not sure what had happened. For a moment, he thought that his 'uncle' pet lizard had pulled one over on him. Then Piccolo felt something pulling on his ki reserves. To the young namekian's surprise, he shifted to a power up stance against his will and started drawing on his ki. All the dust and many of the nearby plants started flying into the air as a thick, white corona of ki surrounded Piccolo. With both joy and stress from the sudden power up, Piccolo lifted his head back and defiantly roared at the heavens.

Euphoria radiated from Piccolo's face clear as day. He let out a deep almost sadistic laugh. "Oh yes! I can't believe it. This is power!" Piccolo quickly glanced at a far off mountain and decided to give his new powers a quickly test by briefly powering up a Destruction Wave and firing it at the mountain. A massive beam of energy burst from Piccolo's hand, flew at almost super sonic speed, and blew the mountain into oblivion. The mushroom cloud of dust caused Piccolo's eyes to bulge out and it slowly became clear that the only thing left of the once titanic mountain was a smoldering crater.

Piccolo looked down at his clawed hands for a few moments in shock. He then grinned and made fists out of both hands. "Oh the irony, thanks to that damnable Kami I have the power to avenge you father. I'll send Goku to hell so that you can torture him for all eternity in the afterlife!"

* * *

Up on the Lookout, nearly eighteen year old Goku was meditating on top of one of Mr. Popo's palm trees. He was in a classic meditation pose only Goku was meditation on his tail which was strait as an arrow with the very tip of the tail balancing on the top of the palm tree. Suddenly Goku's eyes opened in shock and he cursed out, "Shit! Just what did he do?" Goku immediately used his tail to spring off the palm tree; he did a back flip/summersault combo, and lightly landed on the Lookout.

Immediately afterward, Goku ran into the palace towards Kami's throne room. The young saiyan barged into the throne room to find Kami sitting on his throne with Mr. Popo watering one of the nearby hanging plants. "Kami, Mr. Popo, we've got a problem! Junior has somehow massively increased his power. It now rivals mine when I went oozaru to kill King Piccolo."

Kami frowned and then closed his eyes concentrating on the life bond he shared with Piccolo. The old god never liked concentrating on the bond since it allowed him to catch glimpses of his other half's mind. About the only good thing Kami could say about concentrating on the bond he had with Piccolo was at least the boy only had an evil heart and wasn't the twisted psychotic thing his father was. This allowed Kami to stomach the connection long enough to glimpse the images of Shenlong, Piccolo powering up, and the mountain being destroyed.

Quickly breaking the connection, Kami turned to face Goku and sighed. "It appears that Piccolo has just used Shenlong to gain more power. At the moment he's become far more powerful than you, Goku. Will you please check to see just how much more power he has?"

Goku nodded his head and pulled out the capsule that held all his stuff. After the puff of smoke dissipated, Goku pulled out his scouter and put it on. He then walked over to a fountain with sparkling clear water and firmly said, "Show me Piccolo." The water of the magical fountain rippled for a few seconds as a picture of Piccolo flying over the wasteland appeared. Goku turned on his scouter and watched as it recorded Piccolo's power level. Once the number came up Goku bit back another curse. "His power's grown to 5,800! This is ridiculous, before the wish it was only 700."

Turning off the scouter, Goku whirled around to look at Kami and Mr. Popo. "What are we going to do? My currently power level is only 900. Even though you've taught me enough skills to fight foes much stronger than that, Piccolo's become so strong that I need to go oozaru just to hope to beat him. The only solution I can think of is beating myself to near death and healing until I get strong enough. However, between all of the beatings and the power increase I'd lose much of the skill I've gained over the past two years and won't have enough time to retrain before the tournament!"

Kami walked up to Goku and gently put a withered green hand on Goku's shoulder. "Relax Goku, things aren't as bad as they seem. Piccolo might have become more powerful, but you can still beat him with your transformation. Still, it would be better if you were around his power level without transforming. I have an idea that may just solve this problem for us. Wait here while I go talk with my superiors."

Once Kami left the room, Goku turned and asked Mr. Popo, "Superiors? Who can be above god?"

Mr. Popo smiled and quickly replied, "Higher gods of course. Kami's powers as god are great, but they are limited to the living realm of earth. Planetary gods such as Kami are actually quite numerous as each life giving planet has its own god. Above the planetary gods are the gods of the afterlife who watch over sections of the galaxy. These beings each control a check-in station in the afterlife where the spirits of the dead go for judgment. All the planets in a sector share the same check in station and thus, all the planetary gods of the sector are under the rule of the gatekeeper god of the section who rules the check-in station. King Yemma rules the check-in station Earth belongs to and is Kami's immediate boss."

"In turn, King Yemma and the other check-in gods report to one of the Kaio. There are four Kaio and each of them is in charge of a quadrant of the galaxy. Earth lies in the northern quadrant meaning that the Kaio King Yemma reports is King Kai. In a way we are lucky because word through the grapevine is that King Kai is the most responsible Kaio when it comes to his duties, even if he is supposed to be a lousy comedian. Finally, at least what I know for certain, the four Kaios are ruled by the Dai Kaio who is also sometimes called the Grand Kai during less formal occasions. The Dai Kaio is the highest divine authority ruling over the entire galaxy. It's believed that the other galaxies share the same or a similar structure, but I don't have enough information to say the truth about that one way or another."

Goku nodded his head and mentally filed Mr. Popo impromptu lecture away for future reference. Almost every second that Goku hadn't spent training for his upcoming battle seemed to be filled with lectures on what the duties of a planetary god were. Much to Goku's surprise, he was sometimes even given hands on challenges like the time Kami had him create a storm to water some plains that were suffering from a drought or the time when he had to choose which volcano was going to erupt. That last task was not fun at all since the choice was between an island that was the only home of a rare planet with powerful medicinal properties and an island with thousands of people. Goku had shocked Kami with beating his little Kobayashi Maru by collecting samples of the plant and then having the volcano on its island blow. The young saiyan planed to reestablish the plant on its island once things settled down.

About an hour after Kami had left, earth's god returned to his throne room with a confident smile on his face. "Goku, I've found a solution to our problem. King Yemma has allowed the soul of a fighter far stronger than Piccolo to return for one day to help train you. Now, I know that a day doesn't allow the kind of time needed to get that strong. However, some negotiation with King Yemma has allowed us to stretch that time by allowing you two to use the Room of Spirit and Time for twelve hours. This will give you six months with your trainer while not technically breaking King Yemma's rule about the dead only having a single day in realm of the living."

Goku nodded his head accepting what Kami just told him. He then asked, "Who did you get to train me? Is the person a hero from the past?"

Kami shook his head. "Not exactly Goku. Our situation meant that I didn't have much selection to choose from. You're actually quite lucky that an officer of the hell guard was delivering a report to King Yemma and volunteered to help you." Goku frowned and nodded his head at this point. The hell guard was made of the 'noble damned'; warrior souls who went to hell for their sins, but weren't corrupt enough that they couldn't be trusted. These former mercenaries and blood knights were used by King Yemma as riot police when hell's residents got too rowdy.

Seeing that Goku accepted everything that was happening, Kami motioned for someone to step into the room. Goku's eyes widened in shock and horror as the figure moved into view. Kami had an almost sadistic grin on his face as he said, "Goku, allow me to introduce your sensei for the next six months. This is Tribune Bardock of the Hell Guard, your father."

Bardock glanced at his son's shocked face hiding his pride. The boy had done well for himself over the years; no saiyan had ever grown as strong as Kakarot had living on such an insignificant planet and only fighting such weak foes. Not even first class saiyans could boast of such raw potential that Kakarot's current power whispered at and the boy had only begun to unlock the power he was destined to wield. Knowing what needed to be done, Bardock gave his son a smug egotistical smirk. "What's a matter Kakarot? Don't you want to spend time with your old man?"

Goku's eyes narrowed in cold fury and he hissed out, "My name is Goku. There's no one here that goes by Kakarot."

The smirk on Bardock's face grew wider and he waved a finger like he was admonishing a toddler. "Oh no kiddo, your birth records clearly show that your name is Kakarot, not Goku. Pretend all you want Kakarot, but your name stays as your harpy of a mother left it unless you can convince me otherwise. Of course, the fact that I have to leave Hell to train you in order to keep you from getting in over your head doesn't make that convincing of a case for you Kakarot."

* * *

Eight hours, or four months later, Goku and Bardock were in the Room of Spirit and Time training hard. Father and son were currently locked in aerial combat each blocking the other's fist with their other hand and viciously slamming boulder shattering kicks into each other. After a few seconds, Goku slammed his head into Bardock's while combing the attack with a knee to the groin.

Bardock lost his concentration for just a second, but that was all the time that Goku needed. The younger saiyan backed away from his father and rapidly fell to the ground at speeds only assisted flight and high gravity can create. Goku rolled as he reached the ground using his momentum to springboard across the ground. He charged up a Kamehameha Wave, flipped around so he was facing Bardock, and fired the wave.

A grin appeared on Bardock's face as he launched an energy wave that met the Kamehameha wave head on. The two beams clashed lighting up the white dimension like a raging newborn star. For several seconds, father and son engaged in a beam war before Bardock stopped fueling his attack a swerved to the right. Bardock quickly charged up two small balls of ki, fired them in quick succession, and then used the fury of the attack to flip over his son's head. In a shocking move that only someone of the duo's bloodline would think of pulling off, Bardock uncoiled his tail from his waist and put Goku into a chokehold with it. The elder saiyan then immediately started to machine gun his elbows into Goku's back.

With Goku desperately trying to gain some breath by pulling on Bardock's tail, the elder saiyan was grinning at his son's predicament. "Come on Kakarot! You've to do better than this if you want to protect Earth." Bardock then slammed the back of his foot between Goku's legs while keeping up his machine gun elbowing. "Lesson 13 Kakarot: payback is always a bitch and you're her boy toy."

Goku's vision was starting to blur from lack of oxygen when he went for broke. The teen saiyan started glowing green as he unleashed a Thunder Shock Surprise from his entire body. Bardock was a tough as nails warrior who had gone through 15 planetary purges, death, and survived in Hell for almost 18 years. However, even his battle scared body couldn't handle a half million volts of electricity being pumped through it. Bardock tried biting his lips, but in the end let loose a howl of agony.

The Thunder Shock Surprise lasted for only a few seconds before Goku let go of the technique because he became unconscious. As Goku fell to the floor, Bardock let out a gasp of smoke. The older saiyan hoarsely whispered, "Good job Kakarot." Bardock then crashed onto the ground next to his son sporting a puffy tail and an afro hairdo courtesy of Goku's attack.

An hour later, the two saiyans woke up with their muscles screaming in pain from the previous five hour long workout. Dead and half-dead father and son crawled back to the apartment complex in the Room of Spirit and Time. Once the apartment, the lower gravity allowed Goku and Bardock to stagger like drunks over to the bathtub which they quickly fell into. Bardock reached over turned on a second faucet. This faucet didn't pour water into the tub; instead it unleashed grayish-green gloppy goo with a stench worse than a week old carcass in a scorching desert. Slightly green from the smell, Bardock muttered, "Remember Kakarot, if you puke, make sure it's out of the tub."

Goku turned and glared at his father with his only eye. "It wasn't me last time! You shouldn't have had those burritos before that spar last month. They gave you gas that could be classified as biological weapons and caused you to puke on me."

Bardock closed his eyes letting the healing properties of the goo work. With their now customary verbal spar over with, Bardock began to talk. He always did this after the two sparred to exhaustion. Sometimes Bardock talked about Saiyan history, other times he'd tell his son stories from Saiyan lore, and rarely like now Bardock talked about his past. "Your mother was one beautiful, first class self-centered bitch from hell Kakarot. We met at a hospital in Vegeta's capital. I was half dead from a mission as usual and she was there to make sure her trainees were healing up so she could kick the crap out of them again for botching a training exercise."

"Heh, I can still remember being in the regeneration tank when she came strolling into the medical bay with typical first class arrogance and such aloofness that she clearly needed to pull her tail out of her ass. Her first words when she spotted me was 'why by the Moon's bloody light is that third rate jarhead in here?' That wing of the hospital was supposed to be for second class warriors at the bare minimum, I was placed there because the third class wing was full. The doctors tried to explain that to her, but she wouldn't hear it and demanded that the doctors throw me into the third class wing."

"Naturally, I was pissed at this and started powering up. Her scouter picked it up and she was shocked that I had a power level of 8,000. Not that I blame the bitch since even first class elites rarely had power levels over 6,000 and she only had a power level of 3,000. To save face after that she decided to 'take pity on me' and let me remain in the regeneration tank."

"About three weeks later, your mother tracked me down because she was in heat and wanted to insure that she had powerful kid. A little sandstorm fight, some alcohol, a few nights of passion, and then eight months later your elder brother Raditz was born. Being mixed class, the doctors tested him and found him to have a power level of 73. This meant that he was classified as a first class and publicly recognized as your mother's son. Four years later, your mom went into heat again, sought me out, and you came around. Since you only had a power level of 2, you became a third class like me and listed as my son."

Goku sighed as he listened to his family history. He had suspected that his family was a piece of work, but this was confirmation strait from the horse's mouth. Of course, human concepts like 'family' weren't important at all in Saiyan culture. Bloodlines were recorded, but not really important except among the upper levels of the first class and the Royal family. Why worry about who your relatives were when it was your personal strength that mattered? Saiyan noses were sensitive enough that they could detect how closely to Saiyans were related to one another so inbreeding wasn't a problem.

Bardock then went on to talk about the legendary Leek who had faced off against an entire clan of warriors under the full moon when he had lost his tail and yet still won. Towards the end of the story, Goku fell asleep causing Bardock to sigh. The elder saiyan got up, picked up his son, and carried the teen to one of the beds. Once the younger saiyan was in bed, Bardock gently held his sleeping son's shoulder. "You've done me proud boy. You somehow managed to become a true saiyan without giving up that heart of yours and you've found a much more worthy reason to fight than I ever did. I'm proud to be your father, Goku."

* * *

Six months later in real time, Bulma was walking down the streets of Papaya Town towards the arena for the 23 Tenkaichi Budokai in a raincoat because of the weather. She quickly spotted Launch and Master Roshi standing by the sign in desk waiting for the others. "Hey guys, have any of the others arrived yet?"

Roshi shook his head and then answered. "Not yet Bulma, but I sense some powerful people rapidly heading our way. I don't doubt for a moment that it's the rest of the guys and that they'll be here shortly."

Bulma nodded her head grateful to hear that. She then felt someone's hands where they shouldn't be and viciously elbowed Roshi in the face. "Hands OFF my butt you old pervert!"

Suddenly a voice called out, "You'll never change will you Master Roshi." The trio turned their heads to look at the person who called out to Roshi. He was a tall man nearly six feet dressed in blue jeans, a dark almost jade green coat, and had a black t-shirt barely visible under the coat. Thanks to the person's umbrella, the trio couldn't see his face. The unknown person walked closer to the trio and said, "It's good to see you in such good health Master Roshi. I hope you're competing in the tournament this year. I'm also glad to see that you are doing well Bulma, Launch." Then to give everyone a clue who they were talking to, a brown tail uncurled from around the figures waist and started waving in the air.

Immediately the trio called out, "Goku! Is that you?"

Goku tilted his umbrella so that everyone could see his face. There was a pair of sunglasses on Goku's face to hide the scar where his right eye should be. However, it was clear as day to the trio that Goku was standing in front of them. As soon as the rain stopped Goku walked over, gave Launch and Bulma a friendly hug, and then bowed to Roshi. "You never answered my question Master Roshi, are you entering the tournament?"

Roshi put a hand on Goku's shoulder and answered his fellow master. "I've been debating that issue. After all the Turtle school has some very impressive students entering with our friends and a master with the returning champion. It almost seems like it's time for me to step down and let you kids take the main stage. But, I think I'll have one more go at it for old time's sake."

The teenage saiyan pumped his fist practically crowed out, "Alright! I was hoping I'd get another chance to test myself in the ring against you master. Let's go sign up." The master and grandmaster of the Turtle school quickly registered themselves for the tournament causing a bit of a commotion among the monks at the desk. After all, this was the third time in a row that the duo would be fighting in the tournament and both of them had a championship under their belt.

Just after Goku finished signing in there was a whoosh of air. He turned around and saw five familiar figures standing in front of him. Yamcha, Tien, Chaotsu, Krillin and Korin were all standing with grins on their faces. Goku called out, "It's great to see all of you again. Are you all here for the tournament?"

Korin, who was the last in line to sign up, quickly nodded his head. "You bet Goku. I left my new student Upa at the Tower in case anyone else manages to climb the tower. Met up with these guys about ten km north of South City and then we headed strait here." Korin then turned and signed up as a fighter drawing some odd looks from one of the monks. Not that anyone could blame the monks since Korin did look more like someone's pet cat than a fighter at first glance. Once everyone was signed up, the gang left for the hotel so that they could rest for tomorrow's tournament.

* * *

Krillin grinned as he put on his uniform for the tournament. He had a smirk on his face as he showed off the orange Turtle gi saying, "I knew Master Roshi wouldn't let us have our old gis. So, I had this one made; its pretty spiffy wouldn't you say?"

Yamcha turned around in a similar gi with a knowing grin. "I know what you mean Krillin. It looks like we know the same tailor."

Goku walked over in the same outfit he had on yesterday minus the glasses allowing everyone to see the turtle emblem over his heart on the black t-shirt. The saiyan had his green jacket drapped over one shoulder allowing part of the turtle emblem that covered the back of the jack to be seen. "Looking good guys, those duds really suit you. I'd be in an orange gi myself, but Master Roshi felt that was inappropriate for me to be wearing a student's uniform since I'm officially recognized as a master of the school. Who knew you could declare someone a master in absentee?"

Both Krillin and Yamcha chuckled at their friend's 'misfortune'. Krillin gave Goku a pat on the back and replied, "This is what you get for beating Master Roshi in public Spacemonkey. If you wanted to wear the students' gi you shouldn't have won the championship last time!"

The three martial artists all had a good laugh at Goku's predicament. Goku stopped laughing when the ceiling fans turned on changing room's air currents and bringing a familiar scent to his nose. He turned to Krillin and Yamcha saying. "Hey guys, I'm going to check something out. I'll be right back."

Goku calmly made his way between the preliminary rings. Luckily, many of the fighters recognized him as the defending champion and respectfully moved out of his way. After all, Goku was the youngest winner in the Tenkaichi Budokai's history and was mainly responsible for killing King Piccolo. Even some of the more arrogant and uncouth fighters felt the need to give Goku some respect. Finally, Goku came and found who he was looking for. "Ox King, why are you here? Is Chi-Chi here too?"

The human mountain bent down so that the ten foot tall Ox King was eye level with the six foot tall Goku. "Hi there Goku, I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for getting the dragonballs working again!"

Goku shrugged his shoulders. "Don't worry about it Ox, I know you'd do the same for me. Now can you tell me where Chi-Chi is?"

Ox King frowned and eyes started to water. "Oh Goku, it's terrible. My dear sweet little girl was never the same after she was revived. She apparently inherited some of her great-grandmother Baba's abilities. Unfortunately, these abilities allowed her to remember her time in Limbo and no one found out about it until we read her diary looking for clues why-" Ox King busted into tears at this point crying all over Goku. "Oh Goku, my sweet little girl couldn't take it and killed herself!"

The saiyan doubled over like someone had punched him in the gut. Chi-Chi was dead? That couldn't be true! He had check in on her once a week ever since Kami showed him how to use the viewing fountain until the last six months of his training when he had to focus completely on Piccolo's upcoming attack. She had always looked so happy when he saw her chatting with her ladies-in-waiting or sparing with her father. How could that all be an act?

Of course, if she did remember being in Limbo than it wasn't really that much of a surprise that she had killed herself. Thanks to Kami's lessons Goku knew that Limbo was a very nasty dimension that existed outside the realms of the afterlife, but was closely connected to Hell. When sorcerers and other dark magic wielders who casted people into 'hell' they really sent them to Limbo. It was impossible to leave Limbo strait to the mortal realm and very dangerous either way to get at Limbo from the afterlife. Members of the Hell guard were typically tasked with rescuing the poor souls stuck in that realm earning the dammed warriors remissions for their sins. Because of King Piccolo's twisted nature, everyone he or his minions killed automatically was cast into Limbo. Kami had cast a spell as soon as Shenlong revived everyone to blot out those memories as an act of mercy.

Eventually, Ox King managed to regain his composure and stood up. "Sorry about that Goku, but Chi-Chi's death has been very hard for me to deal with. Master Roshi mentioned that you were undergoing some special training because King Piccolo's heir was supposed to be at this tournament."

Goku nodded his head and replied, "That's correct. I spotted him on my way to see you."

Ox King slammed his fists together and grinned. "That's the first bit of good news I've heard in a long time Goku. I want to make that punk pay for what his old man did to my sweet little girl."

* * *

Author's note: yes, I finally decided that Chi-Chi will NOT be Goku's wife and therefore Gohan's mother. I know that this upsets some of my readers, but someone was going to be upset no matter which way I went on this issue. However, I'm not quite done with the Ox Princess just yet. Even in death, she still has an important role to play. What that is, you'll just have to see.


	7. Chapter 7

The preliminaries of the 23 Tenkaichi Budokai was over in the shortest time ever recorded in the tournament's history. Not that this was any real surprise with Goku and everyone else being in a league of their own compared to the other great fighters of Earth. Goku, Ox King, Roshi, Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Korin all made it to the finals. Unfortunately for Chaotsu, he stuck himself in the same bracket as Piccolo. But, what can you expect when you mess around with lady luck?

Once all eight competitors were confirmed, the announcer brought out the drawing box and had everyone draw for their spot in the main tournament. Goku went first as the defending champion and drew number 1. Piccolo, under the alias of Majunior, went next and drew number 8. After that, Yamcha got number 6, Krillin got number 7, Ox King number 4, Tien number 3, Roshi number 2, and Korin number 5. There was then a five minute break so that the monks could inform the crowd about the drawing.

Oolong muttered in shock when he heard the drawing. "Goku and Roshi are going at it in the first match? I thought you were supposed to save the best match for last!"

Puar nodded her head. "Yes, this is going to be quite a matchup. I just hope that Yamcha can give the crowd a fight worthy of following such a match."

Bulma pulled out a laptop and set it on the divider ledge. While opening the laptop, she flipped a small camera so that it was facing the arena. The blue haired genius clicked on a desktop icon that looked like Goku's scouter and grin. "Perfect, everything's checking out as it should."

Launch looked at Bulma blinking her eyes. "Um, should you be working on your computer when the tournament is about to begin?"

The young genius grinned and replied, "Don't worry Launch. This laptop is equipped with my own version of a scouter. With it, I'll be able to see just how strong everyone is, record their techniques, and be able to see the action when they move too fast for the eye to see!" Bulma grinned as the rest of the gang applauded her accomplishment. Personally, Bulma had done it because her friends had proven that stuff like ki existed and she wanted to become the leading scientific expert on ki and other previously believed to be mystical 'nonsense'.

A gong rang as the tournament announcer walked onto the arena. The announcer fiddled with his sunglasses and then began to speak. "It is my proud honor to welcome all of you to the finals of the 23 Tenkaichi Budokai. The winner of this tournament shall be crowned the 'Strongest under the Heavens' and will receive a grand prize of 10,000,000 zeni. We started this tournament earlier today with 93 competators from across the globe. However, only eight proved to have the strength, speed, skill, and experience to make them worthy of fighting before you."

"The first match of the tournament is sure to get your blood pumping as we have the current defending champion and the pervious champion facing off against each other. I am speaking of none other than Goku, the youngest champion in the Tenkaichi Budokai's history and the man who ended King Piccolo. Facing off against Goku is his legendary sensei Roshi, known throughout the martial arts world as the Invincible Old Master. Both master and student have fought against each other twice before; both have won one victory after a close battle. Now they meet as equals, both as masters of the Turtle School and as winners of this tournament. Only one can advance, let's see who it shall be!"

Goku and Roshi walked into the arena, bowed to each other, and then promptly started to attack each other. The two masters were throwing a fury of punches, kicks, and blocks that to most of the viewers the duo's arms and legs were nothing but blurs. Occasionally, one or both of the fighters were slow down just enough for the viewers to see. An example of this was when Roshi tried to sweep Goku's legs. However, Goku jumped over the attack, wrapped his tail around Roshi's leg, and sent Roshi flying towards the edge with a kick in the back for good luck.

About halfway to the edge, Roshi flipped around, put a hand on arena ground, and threw himself back at Goku. Seconds before reaching Goku, Roshi let out a mind numbing screech. The painful sound broke Goku's guard just enough for Roshi to do a double roundhouse kick sending Goku into the air. Roshi flew up after Goku and was able to land a few more furious blows before the saiyan recovered.

It quickly became apparent that taking things into the air was a serious mistake on Roshi's part. The old master had obviously put a lot of effort into aerial combat training since he added flight to his impressive list of techniques. However, Goku was far more used to fighting in three dimensions and was able to exploit holes in Roshi's defenses that didn't exist on the ground. As each moment of the fight continued onward Roshi got less and less strikes in and Goku gained more and more direct hits on Roshi.

Finally Roshi had enough and decided to get the fight back where it belonged: on the ground. He instantly used a solar flare and in the split second Goku was distracted Roshi punched Goku to the ground with both his fists held together. Goku already was recovering from the blow before he touched the arena floor. Roshi quickly decided it was time to unveil a new technique he had been working on. A familiar blue light emanated from the old master's cupped hands as he called out, "Shotgun Kamehameha!"

Goku had seen the familiar glow of a Kamehameha being charged up and felt the corresponding concentration of Roshi's ki. Naturally, his battle instincts immediately had Goku do the typical non energy-intensive method of dealing with such an attack: avoid it. Goku immediately swerved to the left hoping to make Roshi waste the attack. To the young saiyan's surprise, Roshi didn't send out a beam, but a barrage of bowling ball sized blue ki blasts that covered the entire stadium.

Smoke quickly blocked Goku and the rest of the stadium from everyone's sight. Up in the air, Roshi was breathing hard from all the energy he had put into the Shotgun Kamehameha. It was his newest technique, a Kamehameha that you couldn't escape from and had enough power to take down over a dozen of King Piccolo's minions in a single blow. Of course, Roshi knew that such an attack wouldn't off his favorite student; Goku was just too tough. The only question on Roshi's mind was just how much damage had Goku taken?

As soon as the smoke cleared Roshi gasped out in shock, "What the hell?" Goku was calmly floated a foot above the ruined arena without a scratch on him. He had his arms crossed across his chest and a faint bluish white glow surrounded his body. The teen Saiyan flipped around so he was standing on the stadium. Roshi started stammering, "But that was half of my ki reserves!"

Goku dusted himself off and grinned up at Roshi. "That was a very impressive attack Master Roshi. I'll defiantly have to remember that one for the future. It's a good thing that Kami taught me that energy shield or I'd be in serious trouble right now with the level of power I'm currently using."

To everyone in the audience's amazement, Roshi started laughing. "Splendid Goku, I'm thrilled to see how far you've come with your training these past three years. You've equaled me in skill, far surpassed me in power, and I couldn't be happier. There are a few more techniques I've created since we went our separate ways I am looking forward to showing them to you. However, I feel that this is not the appropriate place and that it is time I stop delaying the inevitable. Good luck to you Goku in your next match." With that, Roshi lowered himself until his feet touched the grass. The old master then walked back to the fighter's waiting room as the audience slowly began a thunderous applause.

* * *

Once the audience's enthusiasm from the last match calmed down, the announcer began again. "It seems impossible that anything could match the clash between titans that we just witnessed here today. However, I know for a fact that we have six more fighters eager to show that they are better than our two competing champions here today. Our next match features Tien verses the Ox King. Tien is a returning semi-finalist who was only defeated last time after a heated battle with Roshi who was then fighting under the alias of Jackie Chun. Opposing him is Ox King, the oldest living disciple of Master Roshi who trained with Gohan Son, the winner of the 17th Tenkaichi Budokai. Let us see now who will emerge triumphant on this scarred battleground."

The two competitors circled around each other looking for openings. Ox King made the first move and went in to put Tien into a grapple hold. The three eyed warrior barely managed to escape the hold, but got a back handed fist in his gut for the trouble. Everyone heard a sickening crunch as the bovine king's attack broke one of Tien's ribs.

Tien backed away from Ox King clutching his side with one hand and his face wincing from the pain. Fighting back the pain, Tien spoke to Ox King. "That's quiet a punch you pack. I didn't expect you to have that much strength."

Ox King gave Tien a compassionate glance and replied, "I never was very fast for martial artists of our caliber. So, I trained my strength to such a point that I would only need one or two hits to win. Surrender the match Tien so that you can have the rib treated."

Tien shook his head. "I don't think so. Goku told me that we were about equal in power at the last tournament. I fully intend to show him that we are still equal and that means I have to get past you." Tien stretched out his left arm with his hand positioned so that his fingers were making half of a triangle. A yellow sphere of energy somewhere between a basketball and a beach ball in size formed around Tien's hand. "I'll beat you with whatever it takes Ox King. Prepare yourself to face my ultimate technique Tri-Beam!"

A massive orange yellow beam shot out from Tien's hand and flew strait at Ox King. Most fighters would have been a little nervous at such a powerful attack barreling strait towards them. However, Ox King simply slammed his feet into the ground and held his hands out in front of himself. The massive king caught the attack with his hands and began to push back.

Tien and Ox King soon found themselves locked in an odd game of reverse tug of war. Tien was trying his best to plow Ox King out of the stadium. At the same time, Ox King was trying his best to stand his ground and ride out Tien's attack. Seconds seemed to stretch into eternity as the two warriors tried to prove their resolve. But, less than ten seconds after Ox King started to block Tien's Tri-beam his feet started to buckle. Once that happened the mountain like warrior lost his footing and was carried out of the arena and crashed into a nearby wall.

The triclops quickly ended his attack and fell to his knees panting. "Unbelievable, how could he be so strong? I had to put more energy into that attack than Roshi did when he tried to kill King Piccolo. It's a good thing that the semi-finals aren't until tomorrow or I'd have to forfeit."

* * *

An hour break was called so that the audience could have some lunch and the monks could do some hasty repairs on the ring. When the hour was over the ring still looked like a war was fought on it, but that wasn't a big deal to the monks. They figured that the ring was going to be toast by the end of the tournament given whom the contestants were and that everything was okay as long as the ring was semi level.

Yamcha and Korin walked into the ring as the Announcer introduced them. "Yamcha is a tried and true veteran of the Tenkaichi Budokai. While he has never made it to the semi-finals, no one can doubt his abilities as a fighter and this tournament could be the charm for him. Facing off against him is Korin, a near legendary hermit from the Great Southern Peninsula where he is known for his knowledge of martial arts and mystical lore. Will youth beat wisdom? Lets find out!"

The former bandit was have a hard time stopping himself from busting out laughing. Come on, his opponent was a freaking cat! Yamcha figured that he could just pick Korin up by the tail and drop him out of the ring. Unfortunately for Yamcha, he never saw Korin in action since he was dead at the time and hadn't bothered to climb Korin's Tower since he was stronger than Goku was after training under Korin.

Korin gave Yamcha a very sour glare. "You're a very slow learner aren't you Yamcha? Any decent fighter knows that you are not to judge your opponent by their looks. Besides, it's quite impossible for you to pick me up by the tail and drop me out of the ring. However, I don't mind teaching you to be my new scratching post."

Yamcha blinked his eyes for a few seconds and then screamed, "Hey! Stop making fun of me. I'll show you whose boss." With that, Yamcha lashed out with a lighting fast punch strait to Korin's face.

Even though Yamcha's punch was faster than anyone in the audience could see, it simply went through an afterimage. Korin now was standing a foot away from Yamcha's fist with a grin on his face and waving a paw. "You missed me." Yamcha tried again only to hit another afterimage and Korin ended up a foot in front of the former bandit's fist. "You stopped too short on that last punch there. Might I recommend that you get some glasses?" Yamcha continued to try and hit Korin with punches and then added in a few kicks. But, each time Korin calmly evaded Yamcha's strike and gave a witty come back. "Are you trying to do an interpretative dance? Just because an afterimage looks like me doesn't mean it is me. Why do I get the impression that you're the dobe of the Turtle School? Are you even trying to hit me Yamcha?"

Finally Yamcha got so fed up that he backed away from Korin. "I'm getting sick and tired of you making fun of me just because I happened to be dead when all of you took out King Piccolo. Let me show you my new ultimate technique that I invented myself: Spirit Ball Attack!" A baseball sized ki orb formed above Yamcha's hand and then he threw it at Korin.

The feline master dogged Yamcha's attack and then sweat dropped. "Yamcha, did you lose your marital arts skills while in the land of the dead? A small ki blast isn't really an 'ultimate attack'; especially when you know the Kamehameha wave!" Korin yelled out in surprise as the Spirit Ball slammed into his back sending him flying strait into Yamcha's waiting kick.

Korin quickly connected with Yamcha's foot and was sent flying across the ring. Yamcha quickly powered up a Kamehameha Wave and launched it at Korin. The Kamehameha hit Korin strait in the face carrying him out of the ring and straight towards the crowd barrier. Yamcha had a grin on his face and yelled out, "Oh yeah! Save the trash talking for your litter box you old cat!"

Less than a meter from the crowd wall, Korin stopped being carried by the Kamehameha Wave shocking Yamcha and the viewers. Those in the audience right behind Korin saw the white cat floating in the air holding the Kamehameha Wave with his left paw. Korin brought his right paw up while still holding Yamcha's attack. The middle claw on his paw started to glow and then Korin rapidly brought his right paw down in a slashing motion. A violet crescent of ki as long as Korin's slash appeared and cut the Kamehameha wave in two.

Yamcha quickly disengaged his attack and dove to the side as Korin's attack finished cutting through the Kamehameha. The attack would have continued towards the protective wall for the fighters, but Korin snapped his fingers causing his attack to evaporate. Korin grinned and replied, "Neko Slash. It's a prime example of using the smallest amount of effort needed to achieve the greatest effect. Still, I must commend you for a very well thought strategy. Against a weaker opponent such a combo would have undoubtedly given you the match Yamcha."

If there was one thing that irked Yamcha more than being the butt of a joke, it was having his opponent lecture him! Seriously, he was a third time fighter in this tournament possessing strength and skill the likes of which only a handful of people had. Yamcha powered up another Spirit Ball and launched it at Korin planning on driving the cat out of bounds. Korin simply spun around and hit the Spirit Ball with his tail like a batter in a baseball game. The Spirit Ball went careening back to Yamcha hitting him between the legs. Naturally, Yamcha let out a blood curdling scream as he clutched his family jewels and fell t the arena floor twitching in agony.

As Yamcha laid crying and whimpering, a monk ran up to the announcer and whispered in his ear. The announcer nodded his head and then addressed the audience. "Attention folks, I have just received word from the judges' panel. They've ruled that Korin is not disqualified for hitting Yamcha below the belt since he deflected Yamcha's attack back at Yamcha. Therefore, Yamcha has until the count of 10 to return to his feet or he will be disqualified." The Announcer began to count taking just a split second longer with each number than normal out of sympathy. Who couldn't sympathize with a man who had his family jewels attacked by a three hundred mile an hour ki attack? Sadly for Yamcha, he was still whimpering on his back in pain when the count was finished giving Korin the match.

* * *

Krillin was meditating in the waiting area preparing himself for his next match. In all honesty, Krillin didn't really expect to win against Majunior since his opponent was King Piccolo's heir. The bald fighter was a long stronger than when he had faced King Piccolo three years ago, but that didn't give him any assurance with his chances. In fact, the completely bored look on Piccolo's face while watching the last three matches had Krillin worried. Just how powerful was Piccolo?

While walking into the ring, Krillin completely drowned out the Announcer's voice and focused on his self-made mission. The former monk had about a snowball's chance in hell of winning this match and he was man enough to admit it. However, that didn't mean he was about to thrown in the towel. It was still possible for Krillin to score a victory even if he lost.

As soon as the match started, Krillin raced towards Piccolo, ducked under the namekian's clawed swipe, and punched Piccolo in the elbow. Krillin wasn't able to put much power behind the punch, but he did get away from Piccolo without getting hit. The bald fighter immediately turned around and came at Piccolo again. This time he slid right under his green opponents legs and hit just under the namek's knees at the side. Attacking below the belt wasn't allowed in the tournament, but there was a provision allowing one to hit an opponent below the knees.

Back in the fighter's waiting area; the dragonball gang was watching the match with puzzled looks. Yamcha spoke up. "What's up with Krillin? That's not his normal style that he's using." The former bandit paused for second to watch Krillin tap Piccolo's arm like he was trying to hit a pressure point. "Why does it look like Krillin's pulling his punches while he's making it look like he's trying? How does he expect to win his match when he's fooling around like this?"

Korin frowned and then answered Yamcha. "It's because Krillin doesn't expect to win his match. That style he's using is an imitation of my style with just enough twists put in that it doesn't give away my style." Shortly thereafter, Krillin changed his stance and started attacking with a fury of kicks and lightning fast punches. Once again, Piccolo was easily able to soak up the damage because Krillin barely put any effort behind the blows. No longer was the bald fighter running away from Piccolo's attacks, but instead he was dodging them by swerving away from Piccolo's punches and kicks.

Krillin was a little too slow on one doge receiving a very nasty kick to his arm. Had Krillin been a normal human fighter the force of Piccolo's kick would have shattered the bones in his arm. Fortunately, the bald fighter's training allowed him to soak up the kick with only a grunt of annoyance before retaliating with a jab.

In the fighting peanut gallery, Tien's eyes lit up like a light bulb had been turned on in his head. "That's the basic Crane Style. Chaotsu and I have our own variations like Krillin is currently using, but it's undeniable that he's currently fighting with the Crane Style as he base."

Goku's eyes widen in realization. "Krillin's testing Piccolo. All his actions throughout the match haven't been to win the fight or wear Piccolo down, but allow us to observe Piccolo's fighting style. The reason he's using those styles is to let us see how Piccolo reacts to our methods of fighting. He started with Korin since he's the next person that has to fight Piccolo. The Crane style was probably chosen because Tien is the only other possible fighter left in the tournament facing Piccolo that doesn't use the Turtle Style. Krillin's probably going to switch to the basic Turtle style any minute."

Just as Goku predicted, Krillin switched to the Turtle style by blocking an attempt by Piccolo to swipe Krillin's face with the namekian's claws. Krillin landed a token blow to Piccolo's chest and then immediately backed away. Once again, Krillin tested Piccolo by performing an exhibition of the basic Turtle style. Several minutes passed as the audience cheered Krillin and Majunior on. As far as everyone in the audience, minus the non-combat members of the dragonball gang, were concerned this was an epic match that demonstrated a wide breath of martial arts moves.

Finally, fifteen minutes after the match started Krillin called out to the announcer. "Okay, I've had enough. Give the match to Majunior here." With that said, Krillin stated walking towards the edge.

Piccolo stared at Krillin in shock. Just as Krillin reached the steeps he called out, "What the hell gives little man? You never fought me seriously during our match! I know you have a lot more power than you displayed, so why the hell didn't you fight to your fullest?"

Krillin stepped onto the steps and out of the ring officially making him disqualified. He then grinned and answered Piccolo. "It's quite simple really. I already knew that you were too strong from me to win against. You've got to be holding back at least half if not more of your strength at the moment. However, winning can sometimes simply be the next step you take towards defeat."

* * *

Since the semi-finals and the finals were being held tomorrow, the dragonball gang had retired to the hotel to relax for the evening. Tien had been given a senzu bean to repair his rib. Currently, the gang was chilling in Goku's champion sweet that the hotel had upgraded him to and talking about their missing member. Oolong popped the top of his beer and said, "Such a shame about Chi-Chi. Hey Goku, do you think you could convince Kami to hand over the dragon radar so we can wish her back to life? Only this time, we could wish that she doesn't remember her time of being dead."

Everyone turned to look at Goku who was lying on the coach with a cold one in his hand and a frown on his face. "Sorry Oolong, but it wouldn't do us any good. Just reviving one person isn't a good enough reason to merit Kami handing out the dragon radar no matter how important that person is to us. Besides, Chi-Chi has already been revived once by Shenlong, the eternal dragon cannot revive her again. It's a restriction on his powers that Kami put on so that Shenlong could revive vast multitudes of people at a time. Remember, it was originally expected that people would take years, more often than not decades, just to collect all the Dragonballs once. Considering that it would take the same amount of time to collect the Dragonballs again, it was a reasonable assumption at the time that the same wish wouldn't be made twice. Not that it comforting to know, but those are the facts."

Suddenly, Goku's senses started going haywire as a new presence suddenly appeared in the room. The other fighters sensed the new presence too and tried to find the source. Very quickly, every fighter's gaze locked onto Roshi. Krillin was the first to speak. "Alright buddy, who are you and what have you done to Master Roshi?"

A deep, but wise and friendly, chuckle escaped 'Roshi's' mouth. "Very perceptive of you young Krillin, you and my protégé's other friends have progress very far on your own."

Goku's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "Kami? Is that you?"

'Roshi' nodded his head and replied, "Yes it is me Goku. I'm overshadowing Roshi at the moment so that I can talk to all of you without certain individuals noticing. For the rest you let me introduce myself, I am Kami, god of Earth. Do not worry about your friend Roshi. While I am overshadowing him, his consciousness is enjoying a pleasant dream to his sensibilities. I am puzzled why his dream would feature Bulma and Launch wearing coconuts and grass skirts."

Quickly trying to keep the girls' tempers down, Tien asked, "Sir, why have you come here?"

Kami turned to face Tien and gave him a grandfatherly smile. "I am here my child, because the fate of the world could hang in the balance of this tournament. Majunior, or Piccolo as he has taken to calling himself, is a dangerous threat for the safety of everyone on this planet. However, he is also a threat that can be diverted. At the moment, his entire focus is on avenging his father by killing Goku. Should he accomplish his goal, I have no doubts that he will sink to the levels of depravity that his father fell in plunging this planet into darkness."

"At the same time, he will not attack any 'weakling mortals' as he sees humans until Goku is defeated. Therefore, it is imperative that Goku beat him in the finals since his power far outstrips yours Korin. I therefore came to ask you Tien to forfeit your match tomorrow with Goku."

Tien stared at Kami in shock. "But sir, why can't I fight Goku? Don't I deserve the chance to fight against Piccolo?"

Goku quickly jumped in. "It's not fair to Tien to demand he forfeit his match Kami. How can I say I've won a match if it's been rigged?"

Kami sent his protégé a withering glare. "Control your Saiyan battle lust Goku! Now is not the time for you to play around with Tien. You and I both know that you can overpower Tien when using just 15 percent of your power; 15 percent which you didn't even use against Master Roshi thanks to that 200 kilo jacket you wore! If Piccolo was still at the level he was six months ago before he used the Dragonballs I wouldn't have interfered since Tien and Korin both had reasonable chances against Piccolo then. But under current circumstances you are the only one on this planet with the power to take down Piccolo."

"Having Tien throw his match allows you to remain rested while Piccolo will no doubt be worn down by Korin. Tien also has the perfect alibi with the cracked rib he got from the Ox King which was verified by the monks before he received a senzu bean. He can easily state that he cannot fight because of his rib and no one would question it. Once Piccolo is defeated you and Tien can fight Goku. But for now, you must focus on the big picture like young Krillin did. Remember ego and personal desires have no place when it comes to protecting people's lives."

Tien stood shocked as he listened to Kami lecture Goku. The three eyed man glanced to Goku, then to the possessed Roshi, and finally his eyes drifted over to Krillin. Tien's hands balled into fists as he prepared himself to do one of the hardest things he ever had to do. "Alright Kami, I'll forfeit the match."

* * *

Power Corner- Thanks to Bulma's custom scouter, all of the fighters were able to have their power levels recorded during their matches.

Goku: (with weights and a 15 % cap) 730

Roshi: (regular) 521, (Shotgun Kamehameha) 1,930 note: power shown is for the attack as a whole each separate blast in the Shotgun Kamehameha is far weaker than his regular power

Tien: (regular) 673, (Spirit Tri-Beam) 1,700

Ox King: 497

Yamcha: (regular) 250, (Kamehameha) 814

Korin: 651

Krillin: 589

Piccolo: (suppressing his power) 800


	8. Chapter 8

Goku, Piccolo, and Korin walked into the arena following the tournament announcer. The announcer grinned at the crowd and called out, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to present to you the remaining contestants for the 23 Tenkaichi Budokai. Unfortunately, Tien Shinhan has had to withdraw from the tournament because of injuries sustained from his match with Ox King. This means that our defending champion Goku is automatically in the finals and will be facing the victor of our first match of the day. Goku, do you have anything you wish to say to the audience about the tournament before we begin the semi-final match?"

The announcer handed Goku the microphone who gave a sheepish grin. "I wasn't expecting this so I really don't have much to say. I just hope you all are enjoying the show and it's great to see people excited about something I love like martial arts. That's all folks." Goku handed the microphone back to the announcer and then left for the fighter's waiting room.

A small grin appeared on the announcer's face as he received the microphone. It had been on a pure whim that he had Goku speak to the audience, but it was a whim he was glad he followed. Goku was a wonderful poster boy for the Tenkaichi Budokai. He was modest, showed his opponents respect, and was simply in the tournament for the love of martial arts. The fact that he was still a humble young man after saving the world from King Piccolo was another major plus.

Returning to his task at hand, the Announcer started the semi-finals. "In our first match we see which of these newcomers is going to win the right to fight Goku for the championship. One of our contestants is the hermit Korin who proved in his match with Yamcha that being cute and cuddly doesn't prohibit you from kicking ass. Our other contestant is the mysterious Majunior about whom noting is known besides what he's shown in the tournament. Let the match begin!"

The size between the competitors could only have been more mismatched if Korin was fighting Ox King. The barely two foot tall cat glanced up at the over six foot tall Piccolo and grinned. "You alright there Majunior you're looking a little green. Maybe you should see a doctor." The tic mark above Piccolo's right eye told Korin that his barb had hit the mark.

Piccolo slashed at Korin planning on getting back at the cat for the insult. However, Korin was planning for that and he quickly latched onto Piccolo's arm with his own claws. Purple blood fell on the arena as Korin tore up Piccolo's arm. Piccolo glared at Korin sending two small ki beams out of his eyes strait towards the cat. Luckily, the old hermit reacted in time and just barely managed to jump away. The end result was Piccolo shooting himself in the arm.

Korin floated in the air above Piccolo as the namekian let loose a roar of pain from his self-inflicted wound. The floating cat held his arms apart with the palms facing Piccolo and brought his hands together in front of his chest with a circular motion. An orange ball of ki formed constantly growing and shrinking. Korin's face showed some stress as he powered up his ultimate attack. Just as Piccolo was recovering Korin yelled out, "Fist of the Beast King!" A massive ki blast over three times Korin's size spring from the cat's hands and flew directly at Piccolo.

With the attack coming at point blank range, Piccolo barely had any time to react. The namek slammed his wounded arm into the attack and jumped away. Piccolo stretched out his arm as he flew away using the arm to keep Korin's attack from exploding. Soon Piccolo reached the limit that he could stretch his arm to and cut off the wounded limb with his other arm. The Fist of the Beast King exploded shortly afterward blinding everyone watching the fight.

Both Korin and Piccolo used the smoke to float back down the arena and waited to see what the other would do. As soon as the smoke cleared Korin called out, "Hey Majunior! You look like you could use a hand. Why don't you call it a day and we let the monks get you a prosthetic?"

Piccolo smirked and shot back, "Unlike you foolish mortals, I can regenerate any limb I lose whenever I wish. Even with my current power, I could easily crush you after all that energy you lost in your last attack. However, I think I'll give you a taste of true despair by crushing you to dust by using 20 percent of my true power!" Piccolo let out a roar and a gust of wind billowed forth from him as his power level began to rise.

Korin stood his ground and didn't give into his instincts that were screaming at him to get away or he was going to be made into violin strings. Still trying to throw Piccolo off his game Korin started trash talking again. "Okay, you've proven that you can release the largest non toxic fart on the planet. That still leaves you minus a limb and unable to hit Hello Kitty's badass uncle."

Piccolo's response to this barb was to snarl and launch a barrage of ki blasts from his remaining hand. Korin expertly weave around the first volley prompting Piccolo to send another at the cat. This time, Piccolo spaced his blasts so there wasn't any weave room. Korin simply used his neko claw attack to slash through the necessary ki blasts and counter attacked Piccolo.

After avoiding one of Korin's neko claws, Piccolo took to the air and gave Korin a come and get me motion with his hand. Korin's response was to turn around, bend his waist so that his rear was sticking up, and started to shake it. "Come on you big green string bean, just try and hit my furry cute ass." There was no way that Korin was about to give Piccolo an aerial battle; that would cost him too much of the advantage his small size granted him and he needed every advantage he could get!

On the sidelines, Krillin muttered to himself, "Where does he hide them?"

Yamcha blinked his eyes in confusion. "Huh, Krillin what are you talking about?"

Roshi rolled his eyes and whacked Yamcha on the head. "You idiot, Krillin's talking about those brass balls the size of your empty head Korin is lugging around!"

Yamcha started to rub the back of his head and muttered, "Yeesh guys. What's with all of you making fun of me lately?" The rest of the gang had to hold back sinkers as they glanced at Yamcha's back where his new t-shirt said: 'I'm with Butt Monkey!' with an arrow pointing at Yamcha's head.

Up in the air, Piccolo looked mad enough for steam to come out of his ears. "I've had enough of your mockery Korin! Taste some of my Destruction Wave!" The ki beam shot out from Piccolo's hand strait towards Korin. The cat had enough sense to get out of the blast zone. However, Korin's eyes rose in shock as a wave of ki rushed out from the Destruction Wave tearing up the arena. The old hermit was quickly forced off of the arena and into the air as Piccolo's attack completely destroyed the ring.

Korin didn't get any chance to breath and Piccolo became a blur of motion moving to attack the cat. Luckily, Korin was as fast in the air as he was on the ground and was narrowly able to avoid Piccolo's kick. The duo was now locked in vicious aerial melee combat. Unlike before, Korin wasn't counterattacking Piccolo because he was barely able to doge the Namek's attacks. Eventually Korin's luck ran out and Piccolo landed a bone shattering kick on Korin's stomach. The tiny cat was sent rocketing towards the ground where he crashed into the stone pavement between the ring and the fighter's waiting room.

The announcer ran over to Korin to check and see if he was still alive. Korin's eyes clearly showed that he was seeing stars. The white cat was muttering to himself. "I swear Artemis that I wasn't fooling around with Luna."

Seeing that Korin was still alive, the announcer started his speech. "Majunior is the winner as Korin is out of bounds. As the ring is destroyed, there will be a recess as we patch everything up into a workable condition. Once that is done, there will be an hour notice for the final match to begin."

* * *

Getting the ring prepared for the final match didn't take as long as the monks initially expected. Mostly, this was because Krillin volunteered to lift concrete slabs from a nearby construction site and put them in place to rebuild the ring. Goku and Piccolo were now in the ring with the announcer. The saiyan had taken off his weighted jacket while Piccolo had grown back his arm. The announcer smiled at the crowd and began to start the introductions. "Alright folks, this is the moment you've all been waiting for in this explosive tournament. We have now arrived at the final match between defending champion Goku and the powerful newcomer Majunior. Can Goku take the championship again or will we have a new champion? Let the match begin!"

Piccolo and Goku didn't waste any time and immediately rushed at each other. The namekian started things off with a right slash, left kick combo which Goku block. The saiyan retaliated with punch to Piccolo's chest that connected. However, Piccolo quickly used his free hand to grab Goku's arm and then throw Goku onto the arena floor. Piccolo pulled his fist back and moved to punch Goku in the chest, but Goku pulled his legs close to his chest and immediately kicked Piccolo away.

For the next ten minutes, Goku and Piccolo traded stone shattering blows at lighting fast speeds. Shockwaves from when their punches and kicks collided started cracking the new stadium. Neither fighter was able claim that they had the advantage in the melee battle; Goku and Piccolo were simply too close in skill. After a while, Piccolo backed away from Goku and sent a volley of ki blasts towards the saiyan. Goku promptly deflected the attacks and even sent a couple back at Piccolo. Once Piccolo avoided the last of his returned attacks, he sent a Destruction Wave at Goku. The Destruction Wave was answered with a Kamehameha Wave with the two beams colliding in the center of the ring and exploding.

Once the smoke from the two attacks cleared, Piccolo could be seen smirking. "Very impressive Goku, I can see how you were able to kill my father. You and your friends have proven to be the strongest mortals that this world has ever produced. However, it is all for nothing. I grow weary of toying with you and it is time for you to see the true power that I, Piccolo the Prince of Demons, possess before I send you to face my father's wrath in HELL!"

Piccolo let out a roar of rage as he began to power up. The sudden releasing of Piccolo's powers quickly led to a small earthquake panicking the audience. A bluish-white aura of ki formed around Piccolo and then faded as Piccolo took complete control of his higher level of power. A nasty smirk appeared on Piccolo's face as he boastfully proclaimed. "This is the power I have gained in my quest for my family's vengeance Goku! Not even your giant ape form can measure to my power. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, there's no moon in the sky for you to transform! Surprised? It was rather easy to figure out the source of your power by reviewing my father's memories of his battle with you."

Goku calmly stared back at Piccolo and replied, "You're not the only one whose been holding back. I guess its time for us to get to our real fight." The saiyan warrior started to power up causing blue energy manacles to appear on his forearms. Piccolo gulped recognizing the manacles as an old martial arts technique to seal away a person's power until unlocked by a code word or phrase. How much power did Goku have if he could fight like he had with most sealed away? Goku gave his rival a grin and said, "By the name given at birth, let the power resting in my blood be awaken, Kakarot!"

Instantly, the blue energy manacles shattered like glass and a gust of air shot out from Goku as a blazing blue corona of energy engulfed his body. Everyone was spared a second earthquake because Goku had enough control to direct his escaping energy upwards. A smirk appeared on Goku's face as a frown formed on Piccolo's; the duo were almost equal in power with Goku have a small lead in pure power.

Without a word, the two resumed their battle at speed which none of the regular people could watch. Even the dragonball fighters and Bulma's computer were only able to catch blurry forms of the two racing across the arena and sky. Occasionally, Bulma's computer and the gang got a clear view as Piccolo and Goku slowed down just enough as they traded blows back and forth. Although it was almost impossible to see the fight, everyone could tell that it was a furious battle. Anything and everything that wasn't nailed down was shaking from the shockwaves and there were occasional flashes of light signaling a ki attack being using. A couple of ki blasts were dogged and exploded on the ground or the temple roofs.

Finally, Goku was able to land a solid hit on Piccolo and sent the namek rocketing into the arena. Piccolo quickly pulled himself out of his cement crater and wiped away the blood from his mouth. As he stood up the self proclaimed Prince of Demons muttered, "I refuse to be beaten." Piccolo let out a roar and a second set of arms popped out of his arms followed by a second set of legs. It looked for a second like the namek was tearing his body in half before the two halves leaped apart to reveal two Piccolos standing in the arena. The Piccolos grinned and called out to Goku, "If one cannot beat you Goku, than two will!"

Both Piccolos leaped into the air and brutally started attacking Goku. This new dynamic to the battle quickly worked out to Piccolo's favor. Every time the saiyan blocked one Piccolo's attack, the other Piccolo would kick, slash, or blast Goku where his guard was down. One time one of the Piccolos broke Goku's left arm. After that, the two Piccolos did a double team kick sending Goku right into the crater they had formed minutes earlier. They then began charging the same ki attack and yelled out together, "This is the end for you Goku, Destruction Wave!"

Lying on his bad arm, Goku looked up at the incoming ki beams with a defiant glare. He raised his good arm above him and powered up a ki shield. The destruction waves crashed into Goku's ki shield. This led to a blinding explosion that tore up most of the ring into shreds. When the dust settled, Goku could be seen crouching defiantly in his crater. The saiyan glared up at both Piccolos and called out, "I'm going to defeat you!"

The two Piccolos started chucking and one replied, "That's a good one Goku! However, making me laugh won't save your life."

A small ball formed in Goku's hand which he launched into the stratosphere at hypersonic speeds. Goku looked up at the ball and yelled out, "Mix and Combine!" His canines enlarged and fur sprouted on Goku's face as he began to transform.

The two Piccolos looked in shock as Goku started to transform. One of them muttered, "How the hell is he taking that form? There isn't a moon!" Talking with himself, the other Piccolo replied, "Maybe he's learned how to transform without the Moon?" Both Piccolos shut up when they came face to face with the being of their nightmares: Oozaru Goku. Both Piccolos unleashed a barrage of ki blasts, but they were effortlessly deflected off of Goku's fur.

Goku let out a primal roar of triumph and then glared at the two nameks. "I did not wish to fight you like this Piccolo. However, I refuse to let you use me as a source of 'revenge'. There is nothing about your father that deserves to be avenged. He killed thousands just out of a whim. He drove thousands more from their homes inflicting suffering upon them because it suited his mood. I witness him drain the life out of your brothers just to increase his powers and then claim he was doing it to avenge them."

"Know this Piccolo; although you have been born from darkness, you bare no darkness of your own. Your hands have yet to be stained with the blood of innocent people. Control yourself and grow above the abyss your father sank into or else monster and demon will clash!"

Both Piccolos sent withering glares at oozaru Goku and yelled out in unison, "I refuse to bow to the whims of my father's killer!" The duo launched another barrage of ki blasts that were to Goku like flies landing on his fur.

Growing weary of Piccolo's attacks, Goku stretched his arms out and then slammed them together catching both Piccolos. Both halves of Piccolo fused back together in Goku's grasp and then Goku began to squeeze. The young namek's face twisted in agony and then he let out a roar of pain. Goku relaxed his grip for just a second and growled out, "Just forfeit the match Piccolo! I don't wish to see you have to go through any more pain. You've already proven that you're braver and more powerful than your father. There is no reason for you to have to go through this over what happened three years ago."

Unknown to Goku, the light of his false moon caught Piccolo's eyes. Piccolo quickly realized that what he saw was a false moon created by Goku with the blast he launched shortly before he transformed. The young namek twisted his neck around and launched a massive ki blast from his mouth at the false moon. Piccolo's attack collided with the false moon blowing it up. Goku immediately started to shrink letting Piccolo escape from his grasp.

As soon as Goku returned to his normal state he let out a cry of agony. The oozaru transformation had a special muscular system that allowed a saiyan to manage with broken bones. This allowed them to wreck more damage while soaking up even more damage. However it came at the cost of mangling up the bone pieces even worse and was utter agony when the transformation ended.

At the other end of the arena, Piccolo wasn't in top condition himself. Most of Piccolo's efforts were being spent on simply standing. Slowly Piccolo brought his hands together and began to collect every bit of energy he could spare. "I will defeat you Goku, my father must be avenged Destruction Wave!"

Goku used his right arm to motion and fired a Kamehameha Wave. The two ki beams meet in the center of the arena and slowly, ever so slowly, Goku's Kamehameha pushed back Piccolo's Destruction Wave. Piccolo soon didn't have anything left to put into his attack and watched in horror as the Kamehameha rushed at him. Moments before the Kamehameha hit the namek, the beam widen and pushed him out of the arena onto the singed grass.

Letting his good hand fall to his side, Goku trudged over to check on Piccolo. The announcer proclaiming his victory didn't matter to Goku. Piccolo slowly opened an eye and growled at Goku. "Do it you bastard, kill me like you killed my father!"

Goku shook his head. "You've done nothing to merit death Piccolo. How would I justify it? That you must die because you were born into this world just to cause the deaths of others? If so, I would have to kill myself once I killed you. I came to this world as its herald of Armageddon, yet I rose above my base calling to a higher one. Do you, who fought me with such passion, mean to hint that you're so weak that you must enslave yourself to your own base calling?" That said Goku fell back onto the arena exhausted from his battle.

* * *

Everyone in the dragonball gang wanted to rush out and congratulate Goku for his victory. However, the monks wouldn't allow it since they needed to treat Goku and Piccolo. By the time they all were allowed to see Goku, he had mysteriously disappeared along with Piccolo. All that the gang could find was a small note saying that Kami had summoned Goku. What actually happened was Mr. Popo grabbed the two and disappeared using his carpet. Piccolo had been given part of a senzu bean by the genie and then dropped off in a safe place in the Great Wastelands.

As for Goku, he was promptly brought to the Lookout so that Kami could heal him. Once Goku was healed he gave Kami a grin and said, "Thanks for that fix up Kami. Do you want to head out with me to catch the gang for a party to celebrate my being the champion for another three years?"

Kami smiled and then said, "Thank you for the offer Goku, but I must decline. My appearance would raise too many questions. I must say I'm a little concerned about your decision to let Piccolo live, but I respect it none the less. You didn't choose the easy way, but you might have chosen the right way. Only time can tell for sure."

Goku grinned and replied, "I have to give Piccolo a chance. As I told him, if I killed him just because of his birth I'd have to kill myself for the same reason. As long as Piccolo doesn't start attacking people he has a chance to become good."

The wrinkled god smiled and got a faraway look in his eyes. "Well said Goku, you've made an excellent point about giving people a chance without being foolish about it. Now, there is something that I want to talk to you about and it's very important. I'm getting old as you can plainly see and I don't have much time left to serve as Earth's god. My ability to carry out my divine responsibilities in my condition is only a few years, maybe a decade or two if I'm lucky. It's time I stand down and let a new, younger god take my throne. I want you to be Earth's new god Goku."

"You have a kind and pure heart that has been tested in some of the worst examples of cruelty. With the power you wield you could easily be a tyrant worst than King Piccolo, but you've risen above base desires and used your powers for good. I've tried you throughout your training to see how you could handle the duties of being Earth's god and you've passed each trial remarkably well. I can think of no one better suited to be my successor. Please Goku, become Earth's new god. Don't worry about not having the experience; I will remain till the end of my days here to advise you."

Goku closed his eyes and thought about what Kami was asking him. He, a saiyan sent to Earth to destroy it, was being selected to guide it? Accepting the position would give him a golden opportunity to watch over Earth and insure that no one threatened her. Suddenly, Chi-Chi's image flashed before Goku's eyes like a knife to his heart. How could he watch over Earth if he couldn't look out for a friend? But what about what would happen to the Earth if he left it without a god? If Kami died without a successor things would slowly start to spin out of control. Just having a god insured that many basic cycles necessary for life continued without developing problems.

Finally, Goku opened his eyes and gave Kami his answer. "I accept the position of being your successor Kami. However, I can't assume the position just yet. My friend Chi-Chi was driven to suicide and I never saw any signs of her pain even after watching over her for two years. I know that even a god can't save everyone even a dear friend, but my heart refuses to accept that. Until I can accept this fact both mentally and emotionally, I won't be ready to be your successor."

Kami placed a hand on Goku's shoulder and then pulled the teen saiyan into a hug. After a moment, the duo pulled away from the comforting embrace. Kami gave Goku a small fatherly smile. "Knowing that you aren't ready just yet and admitting it only proves that I was correct in naming you as my successor. To help you solve this problem, I'd suggest you have a talk with Chi-Chi. At the very least, it will give you some perspective for reflection."

The saiyan blinked his eyes and scratched his head. "Uh Kami, how can I talk to Chi-Chi if she's dead? I mean, it's not like I can simply go visit her in the afterlife as a mere mortal even if I'm suppose to ascend to being a planetary god. She can't come here since it's impossible to resurrect her again and I know Yemma doesn't like letting spirits return to the living realm."

Mr. Popo quickly answered Goku's question. "On every living world there is one spot where the living realm and the realms of the afterlife are bridged. These bridges have many challenges in place to keep mortals out. However, one who successfully faces the challenges or who has the planetary god's blessing can go to these bridges and meet with the shade of someone they knew in order to find closure. Earth's bridge between the two realms is the Furnace of Eight Divisions which is hidden in and guarded by the mystical Mount Five Elements."

Kami then took over the explanation. "You have my blessing Goku. Go to Mount Five Elements and meet with Chi-Chi. Hopefully, you will be able to find closer you need."

* * *

Mount Five Elements was protected by a dangerous path barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Surrounding the winding pathway were jagged spikes. Goku faintly sensed several enchantments that had to be the defenses Mr. Popo was talking about. However, none of the defenses activated because he had Kami's blessing. Finally, Goku reached the inside of the mountain and saw the massive Furnace of Eight Divisions half hidden by steam.

A voice called out, "Whose there?" Goku looked up and saw the shadowy outline of a giant hiding behind the steam the furnace made. The figure turned a bit and then called out again. "I said who is there. I can see you down there and I find it rather rude that you came here and didn't have the courtesy to introduce yourself."

Goku blink his eyes and then replied, "I'm Goku Son, recognized child of Bardock and adopted grandson of Gohan Son. I came here to meet with the spirit of a dear friend. Could you tell me who I'm speaking to?"

The steam cloaked figure moved so that its arms crossed over its chest. The voice then called out, "I am Annin, Caretaker of the Furnace of Eight Divisions. It's obvious that Kami has given you his blessing to be here, but it is I who has the final say in this realm." The ground started to shake as Annin walked around the furnace. Goku's first clear view of Annin was a massive boot. An instant later Annin's boot disappeared and a young looking woman about Goku's size walked out of the steam.

To Goku's surprise, Annin had a bowl of noodles in her hand and said, "Good day Goku. Would you like to try some of these noodles? My assistants got the regulators repaired the other day and the noodles are just right."

Wither Annin realized it or not, she had just made one of the most tempting offers she could to Goku. Those noodles smelled wonderful and he hadn't eaten since he left the lookout hours ago. However, Goku forced himself to not jump at the offered food. "Thank you for the offer Annin, but I must decline. I came here to talk with my friend Chi-Chi and not have a good meal."

Annin shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Oh well, more noodles for me." The furnace's guardian quickly wolfed down the noodles in her bowl and then had the bowl disappear in a puff of smoke. Annin walked over to Goku and smiled. "Ah yes, you must be Kami's new apprentice. You know, you caused quite a ruckus when Kami went to my grandfather so that your father Bardock could train you. Letting spirits back in their physical form, especially spirits sentenced to hell, isn't exactly an easy thing. But, I suppose the threat that Piccolo presented to this planet was a reasonable reason."

Goku clapped his hands together and politely bowed to Annin. "It's nice to hear this Annin. However, I was wondering if I could see Chi-Chi. I'm sure you've got a lot of duties to take care of as the guardian and I don't want to waste your time."

To Goku's surprise, Annin smirked and then waved her finger like she was disciplining a child. "Oh no Goku, I have plenty of time seeing as the furnace won't need another tune-up for several months. However, the real question is whether or not I should waste my time letting you see Chi-Chi. You may have Kami's blessing, but that just let you pass Mout Five Element's defenses. In here, I'm the one who decides who can and cannot see a spirit. Usually, I let anyone who's made it this far to see the person that they wish to see since they've proven themselves getting here."

"But you're not getting an easy pass Goku. You were able to meet with your grandfather thanks to the old Fortuneteller. You got over six months with your father who died when you were a baby. You got a second chance to be with your friend Chi-Chi when she was revived with the dragonballs. Let's not forget your friends who died three years ago at King Piccolo's hands who you hung out with at the Tenkaichi Budokai. Most mortals are lucky to have a brief encounter with a departed love one in a vision and you've gotten more than three chances to meet with someone dear to you after their life ended. Why should I grant you yet another chance?"

* * *

Author's Note: Annin and the Furnace of Eight Divisions are canon people and places. True, they're secondary canon as they only appear in the anime filler of Dragonball.

Power Corner- Thanks to Bulma's custom scouter, all of the fighters were able to have their power levels recorded during their matches.

Goku: (starting the match) 945 (full power) 6,300 (as weakened Oozaru) 31,000

Korin: 651

Piccolo: (suppressing his power) 800 (using 20%) 1,200 (full power) 6,000


	9. Chapter 9

Goku stared at Annin in confusion. What could he do to gain a chance to speak with Chi-Chi? Annin did have a good point that he had gotten more chances than most people ever did. Finally, he sighed and gave his answer. "Look Annin, I don't know how to convince you to let me see Chi-Chi. You're right that I've gotten a lot more chances than most people ever do. But, I still need to see Chi-Chi if I'm ever going to come to terms with her death and be able to take Kami's position. Is there anything I can do for you to prove myself worthy of this opportunity?"

Annin closed her eyes for a few seconds to think and when she opened them there was a slightly devious gleam in her eyes. She then held out her right hand with three fingers raised. "Alright Goku, if you want to see Chi-Chi than you must complete three tests for me. Fail any of these tests and you've got to leave this mountain never to return. Pass and I'll let you see Chi-Chi. With these challenges your strength, skill, and resolve will be tested to the limit. Do you accept my tests Goku?"

Goku nodded his head. "I accept your tests Annin. I'm ready to start as soon as you are."

The guardian goddess smiled at Goku's enthusiasm. "Okay, we can begin immediately. First up is the test of strength. To pass you need to lift the cauldron out of the furnace. Be warned that my cauldron weighs over a hundred tons Goku and I'm not allowing you to use that transformation that I've heard you have to aid you in this task."

Nodding his head, Goku immediately flew up above the massive furnace and flew just below the cauldron's handle. Goku quickly put his hand to the bottom the handle and started to push up. At first, it seemed like Goku's efforts were in vain as the cauldron refused to budge. This prompted Annin to smirk thinking that she had Goku beat.

However, Annin's smirk vanished when Goku's ki aura started to flare and the cauldron began to shake. Then, ever so slowly, Annin watched in shock as the cauldron rose out of the furnace. The goddess's eyes were wide with surprise as she murmured, "Unbelievable. No one except for grandfather Yemma and I have ever been able to lift the cauldron!"

Quickly hiding her surprise, Annin brought her hands around her mouth and called out to Goku. "You've passed the first test Goku! Just place the cauldron back where it was so that my noodles don't get ruined." Goku nodded his head and gently set the cauldron down.

Once the cauldron was in place, Goku flew back to Annin. He gave her his typical grin and said, "That was fun. Will all of your tests be as challenging as that?"

Annin chuckled and replied, "Oh no Goku, each challenge only gets harder. The test of strength was rather strait forward even though I didn't believe you would succeed. Your next challenge is a test of skill. To pass, you must beat me in a spar with both of us using weapons. You will not be allowed you use your ki in any way, but you may choose the weapon of your choice. Victory is determined by whoever can force the other to yield."

Goku nodded his head and then asked, "Can I have a staff? The only weapon I'm use to fighting with is my grandfather's staff."

There was a small puff of smoke and then Goku found himself holding a masterfully created bo staff. Goku heard the sound of another poof of smoke and saw that Annin had a naginata lightly resting in her hands. Both Goku and Annin respectfully bowed to each other and then began to fight. Annin opened up with a downward thrust which Goku promptly blocked with his staff. Goku imminently twisted and tried to slide his staff through his hands in order to hit Annin in the face with the end of his staff. In response, the goddess bent her head and simultaneously yanked her hands so that the non-bladed end of her weapons was rushing towards Goku.

Quick as lighting, Goku brought his foot up and blocked Annin's low blow with his knee. Goku leapt away putting about two feet of distance between him and his opponent. He kept moving going into a spin and then extended his staff for to hit Annin's legs. She jumped over Goku's staff and then slashed at his head. Goku's well trained instincts allowed him to duck quickly enough so Annin only cut the very top of his hair. Still in motion, Goku shifted his staff to one hand and then twilled it around to attack Annin's side from the opposite angle. This time the goddess brought her naginata to her side to block the incoming blow.

Back and forth the two fought like they were in a dance. When one slashed the other swerved. When one thrust for a sold hit the other blocked the intended blow. This was a contest of skill between two masters that it looked like artwork. Even after three years, Goku didn't lose an inch of his bojutsu mastery.

However, the match was quickly shifting to Annin's favor much to Goku's dismay. There wasn't any problem with his skill; it was on par with Annin's even if she had more refinement in her style. The problem lay in Annin's handicap for Goku. He had been using ki to augment his muscles for so long that he was facing a double strain. On the one side ki was agitated being bottled up so tightly and on the other hand his muscles were aching from the lack of usual support. If Goku didn't do something soon he was going to lose.

Goku shifted to a more defensive stance as he waited for an opening. Annin's face had a mischievous smirk as she thought she had Goku on the run. That arrogant assumption caused Annin to make the tinniest of mistakes. She twisted her wrist just a fraction more than she should have moving the blade of her naginata farther away from Goku's body. This was all the opening Goku needed.

As fast as just his muscles would allow, Goku reached out and grabbed Annin's blade. The tips of his fingers started to bleed, but the saiyan ignored the pain and thrust with his other fist holding his bo staff level with Annin's throat. Less than a second latter, Goku tripped the goddess forcing her to the ground. The fall knocked the naginata out of her grip allowing Goku to bring use both hands in pressing his staff against her throat.

Annin tried to dislodge Goku. However, he was sitting on her stomach and pressing the staff against her throat making it hard to breath. Even the divine have problems with a lack of oxygen. Finally, Annin started pounding the ground with the palm of her right hand. She then hoarsely whispered, "Give. I give."

Goku got off of Annin and offered her a hand up. "Sorry about that Annin, but I was running out of options. You really had me on the run."

The Goddess's face was red, partially from embarrassment and partially from the lack of oxygen, as she accepted the offered hand. Once Annin was up, she quickly straightened out her outfit. Now presentable, she smiled at Goku. "There's no need to apologize Goku. You took advantage of an opening like any fighter would and completed the test of skill. Are you ready for the next test?"

Goku started stretching and grined at the goddess. "You bet Annin. So what will this next test be? Is it a race of some sort?"

In spite of her usual control, Annin burst out laughing. She clutched her ribs trying to regain control. "Sorry Goku, but that's just so funny!" Finally Annin was able to calm down and then she explained the final test. "The test of resolve is just that, a test to see just how strongly you want to see your friend's spirit and what you'll endure to achieve this. Thus, for your test you have to undergo a three day fast."

The saiyan's face widened in horror. Goku immediately yelled out, "Fasting?"

Annin nodded her head. "That's correct Goku. As of this moment, you must not eat even a single grain of rice for three days. Have as much water as you wish, but no food of any sort. If you truly wish to speak to Chi-Chi, than you must endure both the pain of hunger and the temptation to eat as you will be required to sit with me when I have my meals. Should your resolved be great enough to complete this test, then I will deem you worthy of meeting with Chi-Chi."

As if in protest, Goku's stomach let out an angry sounding growl. Goku held his stomach with one hand and looked very nervous. He then muttered, "Why couldn't it have been something easy like doing repair work on the furnace?"

* * *

Mount Five Elements shook as an unearthly rumble rocked its core. Some of the rocks around the edges of Mount Five Elements had stress cracks from the rumbling. For almost a minute the mountain shook until finally the rumbling subsided. Inside the mountain, Annin took a quick look around to make sure that mini-earthquake had stopped and then pulled the earplugs out of her ear. The goddess mournfully looked at her broken chinaware. "Memo to me, never ever have a Saiyan fast again! It's only been too days and already Goku's stomach is tearing apart my beautiful home. That man's resolve better break soon or I'll need to find a new home!"

Annin sighed and then walked out to where Goku was meditating. The goddess took a quick glance at Goku's face and then diverted her eyes. Even with his eyes closed, Goku's face conveyed a feeling of utter agony. Part of Annin twinge at what she had to do, but it was the terms of the test. "It's dinner time."

Goku opened his eyes and winced in pain. He put a hand against the wall and used it to help himself stand up. The saiyan took a few wobbly steps towards the dinning room and started to fall to the ground. Annin rushed forward and quickly caught Goku before he could hit the ground. For a few seconds Annin simply held Goku in her arms wondering at his resolve. The moment ended when Goku chuckled. "Thanks for the hand Annin."

The lightest tint of red appeared on Annin's checks. "It's no problem Goku. I'll help you walk to the dinning room." After all, she thought to herself, there wasn't in the rules of her test that said she couldn't help him out like this. Both goddess and saiyan soon reached the dinning room where a simple meal had been set up. Goku quickly sat down in his spot and Annin placed a plate in front of him that would make anyone's mouth water. Annin quickly sat down opposite of Goku and got her own portion.

Annin quietly ate her dinner and watched as Goku refused to touch the food even though his hands obviously wanted to grab something to eat. Twice the saiyan's stomach demanded attention each time louder than then last. In all honestly, Goku's stomach was growling at such a constant rate that you could almost set your watch to it.

Finally, Annin's curiosity and aggravation got to be too much for her and she threw her chop sticks on the table. "Okay Goku, you need to start talking. What the hell is so important about Chi-Chi that you're willing to put yourself through this crap just to talk with her? Was she your lover or something?"

Goku rocked back slightly as if he had been punched. He soon closed his eyes and collected his thoughts. "Chi-Chi and I weren't lovers; though I will admit that she was very attractive and she did have at least a crush on me. She's one of my friends."

Annin blinked her eyes and looked completely confused. "That makes no sense what so ever Goku. You admit that you two were attracted to each other, but you claim that the two of you weren't in a relationship and that this is simply because you're her friend. I've seen and heard about friends going through quite a lot for each other, but this is well beyond what even strong friendships will lead someone to do."

Goku shrugged and gently grabbed the glass of water. After taking a quick swallow he tried to dispel Annin's confusion. "Maybe that's true among humans, but not so among Saiyans."

The goddess's curiosity got the better of her. She took a sip of wine and thought for a second. Annin set her goblet down and asked, "Why would a Saiyan do more for a friend than for a lover?"

To Annin's surprise, Goku looked a bit flustered as he prepared to answer her. "Unlike humans, saiyans don't have a major drive towards romance. Culturally, things like romantic love didn't really have a place on Vegeta. Humans place a great emphasis on both romantic love and families. That's not how saiyans do things. With saiyans a female would go into a one month heat every four years, a little more than three years using Earth's calendar. Any interested males would have to prove their strength to the female; usually by fighting other suitors. The resulting child would go to which ever parent was deemed stronger for those in the same class or with the parent whose class reflected the child's birth strength. On rare occasions, a female would seek out the same male again and again. But, even in these cases the two would only be together long enough to sire a child unless they were in the same band. I guess a continuing mate pair in the same band would be similar to what human's see as a married couple. However, I think what Roshi once described as 'friends with benefits' might possibly be a better description."

"Saiyans instead placed great emphasis on their friends. A saiyan's friends are incredibly important; their people you can count on to have your back in trouble. One's friends were the ones to train a saiyan and help him or her reach their potential. Older members of a band usually pass along useful techniques and experience while other members of a band are sparing partners. They are the only ones a saiyan can trust with conviction to have a friendly sparing match and not use an opportunity to kill you. It's expected that all members of the band would act to help a member if that person was in trouble. Before contact with other races, children would stay with the band of their parent until first maturity and than usually left to either join other bands or form their own. The children weren't forced out and many tended to stay with their sire bands, but most left to make their own mark away from their parent's reputation."

Annin mulled over what Goku had told her and then nodded her head. "I think I'm beginning to understand why your here Goku. You consider Chi-Chi to be a friend, part of your band am I correct?" She got a quick nod from Goku and then continued once his stomach quieted down. "So, your main reason for needing to seek out Chi-Chi is the fact that you feel you've failed to help her in preventing her death. This is about you feeling that you've betrayed your band as much as it about the loss of a dear friend."

Goku solemnly nodded his head. "I suppose so. Chi-Chi's death has caused me to be so confused that I can't sort these things out on my own. Thanks for helping me put my situation in perspective Annin."

"Don't mention it Goku. Sometimes it helps to have someone else look at our problems because we're so close to them that we can't see what's happening. However, I would like to know one thing Goku. If Chi-Chi hadn't died the second time, how would you see the two of you developing?"

The Saiyan folded his hands behind his head and glanced off at the ceiling. "Well, I suppose that if Chi-Chi were still alive where we'd be would depend on her. Back when we first met I agreed to marry her thinking that it was a food dish. Silly assumption I know, but in my own defense I had been raising myself for five years at that time with no education except what my grandfather taught me in order to live off the land. Misunderstanding aside, I made the agreement and was planning on fulfilling it if Chi-Chi still wanted to continue with the marriage once I explained what I was to her. The ship that brought me to Earth might have taught me everything about Saiyan culture, but I still understand and appreciate things about human culture."

"I have just one final question Goku. What would you have done if Chi-Chi hadn't wanted to continue with the marriage promise?"

Silence reigned for a few minutes as Goku pondered the question. Finally he sighed and answered Annin. "It would all depend on why Chi-Chi wouldn't go through with her promise in this make believe situation. If it was just that she thought we shouldn't be accountable to a childhood promise, than I'd be fine with things. However, if it was because she couldn't deal with being married to an alien than things between us wouldn't be so great. I'd get over it, but I wouldn't have considered her to be such a good friend anymore. But, that's all what-if and there isn't much point in considering that."

* * *

Finally, Goku finished his fast the following day much to his and Annin's relief. Annin had prepared a feast for Goku to show her amazement at his willpower. This also kept Goku out of the way while she made some critical repairs to the furnace. A starving saiyan's stomach was an incredibly powerful sonic weapon.

Once Goku had quelled the beast pretending to be his stomach, Annin led him into a steamy cavern. Annin looked at Goku and smiled. "This is the Chamber of Reckoning. In here you can meet with Chi-Chi and talk. Only I and Chi-Chi's watcher will be here and we won't say anything that's spoken of in this chamber. The magic of this chamber prevents the watcher and I from saying anything about what will happen in here. Do you have any questions before Chi-Chi is brought in?"

Goku nodded his head. "I've just got one Annin. What's this watcher that you're talking about?"

Annin folded her arms and sighed. "Chi-Chi was a suicide and thus was sent to Hell. She might only be a sprite because she would have gone to Heaven if she hadn't killed herself, but the fact that she's a dammed soul remains. No dammed soul except for members of the hell guard is allowed outside of Hell without supervision." Annin waited a few seconds to see if Goku had any more questions. Since he didn't, the goddess clapped her hands together and turned to face the steamy end of the chamber. "Bring Chi-Chi forward if you please guard."

Thanks to his ears, Goku heard someone approach from within the steam before he could a shadowy figure. Soon enough a saiyan about half a head shorter than Goku with flame like brown hair and a goatee walked into view. Next to him was a floating cloud that was hard to distinguish with the steam. The guard put his right arm across his chest in solute and bowed to Annin. "Your highness, I have brought the soul you requested."

Annin nodded her head. "Thank you Vegeta." Annin then walked towards the cloud and held her hands over it. The goddess's hands started to glow as she spoke. "Take the shape of your body in life, oh damned soul, and so it will be while your spirit stays in this chamber." The sprite glowed and then quickly grew until Chi-Chi's old form appeared with a halo over her head.

Involuntarily taking a step forward, Goku stared at his departed friend and whispered, "Chi-Chi? Is that really you?"

The Ox Princess turned to look at Goku and her eyes quickly moistened with unshed tears. "Goku, did you really come all this way to see me?" As soon as Goku nodded his head Chi-Chi ran towards him. Just before Chi-Chi reached Goku, she fell to her knees and began to cry at his feet. Chi-Chi kept on sobbing, "I'm sorry Goku", over and over again while tears freely fell.

Goku looked completely confused at what Chi-Chi was doing. He slowly got down on his knees to look Chi-Chi in face. "Chi-Chi, why are you apologizing?"

Chi-Chi slowly looked up into Goku's eyes and flinched. "I felt all the pain you and everyone else experienced because of my death. I never wanted to hurt anyone."

"But Chi-Chi, we all care about you. Why wouldn't we be hurt by losing you? I wasn't able to even consider giving King Piccolo any mercy because you died the first time under his orders. Why didn't you talk to someone? We would have helped you."

Chi-Chi spectral form started shaking in terror. "I couldn't talk about it Goku. I barely was able to write it out in my journal. You don't know just how terrible Limbo is Goku. Only the darkest pits in hell compare to that place. I just wanted the memories to end. Every night I went to sleep I felt like I was back in Limbo. Every day I put on a strong face and pretended that everything was alright since I thought that's what my father was doing. It wasn't until I was judged that I learned everyone else had their memories erased."

Goku looked completely helpless as he tried to comfort Chi-Chi. At first, Goku tried to give Chi-Chi a hug, but was shocked to see his arms pass through his former fiancée. Completely lost, Goku sighed. "Isn't there anything I can do help you Chi-Chi? Perhaps an offering to ease your time in hell or a message I could pass on for you?"

Annin coughed to get Goku and Chi-Chi's attention. "Goku, offerings shouldn't be made for damned souls. Hell twists the offerings into a new torment for the damned. This is supposed to punish the damned for not meeting the expectations that the living think they did. I'd also advise against passing a message along for Chi-Chi. While it's a noble idea, messages from beyond the grave usually only hurt the living. Chi-Chi will feel that pain as part of her punishment. You'd just be hurting everyone involved Goku."

Goku punched the ground in frustration causing the entire chamber to shake. "Darn it! Why can't I do something to help Chi-Chi? If I or anyone had any knowledge that she would remember her time in Limbo we could have helped her. Are you telling me that Chi-Chi has to spend eternity in hell because her friends didn't have the information they needed to help her!"

Annin held up her hands in a placating manner. "Now Goku, there is a way to help Chi-Chi. Since she's only a sprite instead of a specter or a wraith it is possible for her to leave Hell. Sprites are eligible for reincarnation after they've been dead a decade. Now, since Chi-Chi's a damned soul, there are a few restrictions to her reincarnation option. First, her new parents have to be aware of her status as a damned soul and still accept having her as their child before conception. Second, the prospective parents have to either have known Chi-Chi in life very well or be strong mediums able to get to know her spirit after death. Finally, Chi-Chi has to meet both parents after death at the same time either through a visionary dream or through a medium like this and accept them as her new parents. If these conditions are met, than Chi-Chi can be reincarnated as the couple's child. She can choose wither some or all of her memories of her past life are carried over into her new life. Any memories that are carried over will be suppressed until she's in her teens so that her reincarnation will be mature enough to handle the memories."

Goku and Chi-Chi looked at each other in shock after hearing Annin's news. The saiyan was the first to speak. "You mean that we could get Chi-Chi out of Hell and insure that she never is plagued by her time in Limbo or Hell again?"

Annin nodded her head. "Yes, but remember that she'll be reincarnated and thus not strictly the Chi-Chi you and everyone else knows. Also, don't forget the restrictions I mentioned Goku. Mediums powerful enough to learn about a particular soul in hell are very, very rare and most of those don't want to bring back any damned souls. Your gang of friends is the best bet of finding a couple willing to be her new parents. Since she was closest to you Goku, I'd recommend that you become her new father."

Chi-Chi's eyes widened in shock and then she lowered her gaze to the floor. "Goku," Chi-Chi began obviously having a bit of trouble with what she was about to say. "If you really and truly want this, I wouldn't mind being reincarnated as your child. I always wanted to be your wife when I was alive. But, that dream obviously didn't come true. Having my reincarnation become your daughter definitely isn't like being your wife. Although, I wouldn't mind it since I'd still be with you in a way and I know you'd be a good father."

The Saiyan nodded his head and gave Chi-Chi a smile. "A part of me wished that if I ever had a daughter that she'd be like you Chi-Chi. I can't imagine how I could possibly have a daughter more like you than having you as my daughter. Kami must be laughing on his throne at this situation. He'd probably tell me to be careful about what I wish for."

Everyone in the chamber, including the bored previous King of All Saiyans, had a good chuckle at Goku's expense. Goku folded his arms and looked at the sky. "Okay, we've got half of this situation resolved. Chi-Chi, are there any women you were good friends with who would accept having you as their daughter?"

Chi-Chi blinked her eyes in shock. A tick appeared on her forehead and she tried to smack Goku. "This is my potential future mother you're talking about Goku! How can you be so casual about this?"

Goku got a nervous look on his face. "But Chi-Chi, I'm just trying to help you out! How can I get you reincarnated as my future daughter if I don't know who is qualified to be your mother or not?"

The late ox princess stopped in mid rant and bowed her head in apology. "Sorry Goku, you're right." Chi-Chi's face quickly became pensive as she thought about the women she knew. In all honestly, she really didn't have many people she had hung out with while alive. Being a princess, the daughter of a feared ruler, and constant training weren't conducive to having lots of close girl friends. She had a good number of handmaids, but they were friendly associates at best. "Uh Goku, we've got a problem. The only one I can think of who'd likely qualify is Bulma."

Goku cringed when he heard that bit of news. It wasn't that he thought Bulma would make a bad mother. In all honestly he'd thought Bulma would make a wonderful mother after being able to keep him and everyone else in line. Goku's problem wasn't that he found Bulma unattractive. Ever since first puberty his sex drive had been turned on and the saiyan could admit, at least in his mind, that Bulma was incredibly hot. If someone put him to the wall and really pressed on the issue he'd admit that he wouldn't complain about a cross species experimental liaison with his oldest friend.

The problem with Bulma being Chi-Chi's new mom for Goku was a little minor detail: Yamcha. Bulma and Yamcha might not have the most stable of romantic relationships, but they were together; well, at least they were together most of the time. The thought of hurting one friend to help another bothered Goku to no end. "Uh, if Bulma's the only one who can be your mother, then perhaps I might not be the best choice for your new father."

Chi-Chi was confused for a few seconds and then scowled. "And just who do you think should be my hypothetical new father? If you're thinking of that Yamcha fellow than forget it Goku. I know Launch better than I know Yamcha so he's not likely to qualify. Besides, he's not a good boyfriend for Bulma and certainly isn't a top contender in the possible future best dad award."

Annin clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Excuse me, but I think I should point out some problems with your selection process Goku and Chi-Chi. Specifically, you both are forgetting that Chi-Chi has to meet her new parents now that she's dead and accept them as her reincarnation's parents. I took the liberty of doing a cursory examination of your band Goku to find likely candidates. With regards to who is qualified by knowing Chi-Chi, there's Goku, Yamcha, Krillin, Bulma, and one of your handmaidens named Anoa. Launch was disqualified because you don't know both her personalities well enough. Anoa most likely wouldn't make the cut when it comes to the 'willing to accept damned soul being reincarnated as own child' clause of the reincarnation regulations. Krillin probably would accept you, but Bulma wouldn't accept him as the father so he's out."

"This leaves us with Bulma as your future mother and either Goku or Yamcha as your future father. There are some problems with both men becoming your father. Goku's issues are minor since there simply the fact that Bulma is dating someone other than him. This can easily be solved on the Afterlife's end by the two simply having a one night stand. Of course, the result of that opens up a whole new can of worms. On the flip side, Yamcha doesn't have many problems after conception, the problems for him is getting it so that he can meet you to agree. Like Goku, Yamcha's going to have to be put through the wringer in order to meet you only ten times worse since he already died once. Even if I tried to smooth things along, my grandfather's bureaucracy would make everything a killer."

Chi-Chi hung her head in defeat. "Does that mean that I won't be reincarnated and have to spend eternity in Hell?" Her punishment wasn't that bad since she was only a sprite, but even under the best conditions Hell wasn't a place you wanted to spend eternity in.

Annin shook her head. "Oh no, you can still be reincarnated Chi-Chi. I wouldn't even have brought it up in the first place if there wasn't a way to make it work. There are two options that will allow you to be reborn Chi-Chi. The first is that Goku and Bulma come to an agreement on how everything between them regarding your next incarnation will work out before she's conceived. Since Goku will be a god at this point he could act as an intermediary so that you and Bulma can meet in a vision. This isn't possible with Yamcha since in order to connect such a vision to hell he and Bulma will have to be 'one flesh' at the time if you don't mind the old phrase. As for the second option," Annin stopped talking and look very nervous.

Goku walked over to the goddess and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Annin, could you please tell us what the second option is? You've been very helpful to me and Chi-Chi throughout this and I think its safe to say that we want to consider every option you think is possible."

Chi-Chi watched as Annin gulped and fought down her nervousness. The goddess took a deep breath before beginning again. "The second option isn't widely known since it's a rarely used clause in the rules. And by rare, I'm talking maybe once out of ten thousand planed reincarnations like this one which are obviously very rare by themselves. Under this option, if you both agree to it, I will take Bulma's place and become your new mother Chi-Chi."


	10. Chapter 10

Chi-Chi and Goku stared in shock at Annin. Both of them thought that they couldn't possibly have heard what she said right. Goku was the first to find his voice and nervously asked, "What was that second option again?"

Annin gave the saiyan a small smile and answered him. "I said that the second option is that I become Chi-Chi's new mother with you as the father Goku."

The Ox princess looked at Annin in both hope and complete shock. "You would seriously think about doing that? Why would you want to help me out?" Chi-Chi hoped that Annin was serious about the offer since it would get her out of Hell in a decade. However, Chi-Chi was plagued by doubt as to why an honest to goodness goddess would want her as a child.

Annin walked over to Chi-Chi and gently laid a hand on the specter's shoulder. "I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wasn't willing to go through with it Chi-Chi. I can see that you're a good person who wasn't able to get the help they needed because of bad information. Also, I'm not exactly being completely altruistic here." Annin sighed before she continued on. "My grandfather King Yemma has been getting on my case this past millennium because I'm his only granddaughter who hasn't gotten a husband yet."

Goku nodded his head in understanding. "So this is supposed to be a mutually beneficial deal right? You get a husband to stop your grandfather's pestering and I get Chi-Chi out of Hell. But, something doesn't make sense to me. Why would you want to marry me? I mean, even if your grandfather's nagging you I doubt you're the type of person who will jump at the first opportunity for a husband."

The goddess gave Goku an inquisitive glance and then smirked. "You're not as bad at reading people as you pretend Goku. You're right in that I don't jump at opportunity for a husband. In fact, I've already turned down a dozen suitors who wanted to marry me which is partly why my grandfather is on my case. I'm making this offer because from what I've heard and more importantly seen, you're the kind of man I was hoping my future husband would be. That's not to say I love you or you don't have flaws; I only see you as a friendly acquaintance and can already see that you have your own flaws. However, everything I see shows me a man who I can have at the very least a friendly marriage with and possibly come to love in time. Now I ask you Goku, which of the two options do you want to go for in order to insure Chi-Chi can be reincarnated in a decade?"

Everyone watched as Goku closed his eyes and considered the question. Finally, he opened his eyes and gave Annin and Chi-Chi a bright smile. "It looks like the three of us will be a family in a decade." The saiyan than turned to face Annin and gently whispered. "I hope I can be as good of a husband as you seem to think I can be."

Annin returned Goku's smile with her own. "I think you'll do just fine Goku." She then turned to Chi-Chi and said, "Do you have anything else you wish to say to Goku? If not, than it will be time for you to return to the afterlife. You still have 9 ½ years before you can be reincarnated."

Chi-Chi turned around to smile at Goku and then she bowed her head. "Thank you for going through all this trouble on my behalf Goku. You're the best friend anyone could ever ask for." Chi-Chi then turned to look at Annin. "I'm ready to go back now your highness."

Just as Chi-Chi started walking towards her guard, the guard held up his hand motioning for her to stop. "If you don't mind," the guard said slightly gruffly while looking at Annin. "There is something I wish to say before we depart." The goddess nodded her head letting the guard speak.

The guard turned to face Goku. "You're a credit to our race Goku, recognized son of Bardock. Your ability to grow so powerful on such a weak world and your self-taught mastery of the Oozaru transformation make it clear that you are no 3rd class saiyan. Were I still alive I would have no choice but to elevate your bloodline to that of first class."

"There are so few of our kind left among the living; something that I'm sure allows many races to rest easier at night. Please, accept this last request of your late king: redeem our race's name so that when the last of us die the galaxy won't celebrate our extinction. Out of all the survivors, you are the most likely to redeem our race. Also, if by happenstance you meet my older son, deflate his ego. I have no doubts that brat's ego has gotten too big for his britches without me around to keep him grounded in reality."

Goku nodded his head earning a smirk from the late King Vegeta. The saiyan king turned around and then led Chi-Chi back into the steam. Goku watched for a few seconds as the duo departed, but soon lost sight of them.

Once King Vegeta and Chi-Chi were gone, Annin turned to Goku. "So Goku, were you able to get your questions resolved?"

A reflective and slightly somber look settled on Goku's face. "Yes I did Annin. Going through all of this has made me realized that no matter how hard I try, I can't help all of my friends all the time by myself. But, with the help of other friends both old and new I can insure that things turn out right in the end."

* * *

Up on the Lookout, Kami was smiling as he looked out over the edge and sensed a familiar energy coming towards the lookout. The green god blinked his eyes as he sensed a second power accompanying Goku. Kami turned his head to where Mr. Popo was watering a palm tree and called out, "It seems that Goku is returning and he has brought a distinguished guest with him."

Mr. Popo tilted his watering can so that he wasn't watering the tree anymore and looked over at Kami. "That's wonderful news Kami. Should I go and prepare some tea?"

Kami shook his head and replied, "Not at the moment. Let's get ready to meet Goku and his companion." Seconds after Kami said this, Goku and Annin flew up into sight. The duo landed near Kami. The old green god smiled at Goku and nodded his head while looking at Annin. "It's good to see you again Goku. This is an unexpected pleasure to see you here Lady Annin. Would you mind telling me why the two of you have traveled here together?"

Annin took a step closer to Kami and smiled like she was looking at a child. "Hello again kiddo, I haven't seen you since grandfather held last year's sector party. Goku's here to become Earth's god since he's managed to sort his problems out. As for me, I'm here to watch Goku's ascension as his future queen."

Both Kami's and Mr. Popo's eyes bulged hearing that Goku somehow got Annin 'the Patron Goddess of Ice Queens' to be his wife. Would the wonders that man accomplished ever end? Kami quickly regained his cool and politely nodded his head. "I understand Lady Annin. Mr. Popo, please move my belongings to one of the temple's reserve wings and prepare the main chambers for Goku and Annin." Mr. Popo nodded his head and quickly left to fulfill Kami's last orders as the god of Earth.

While Mr. Popo was leaving, Goku spoke up. "Hey Kami, how does my becoming Earth's god work?"

Kami smiled at the question. "You don't have to do anything Goku. Just relax and let the transformation happen when I start the transition of power." Kami motioned for Goku to follow him and the two walked to the center of the lookout just in front of the temple. Kami stood in front of Goku, held out his staff in his arms between the two, and tapped the ground three times. "The end of an era is upon us." Kami tapped his staff on the ground five times. "The light which has warmed has grown dim." Again the old Namek tapped his staff on the ground only now it was seven times. "A new light has risen to take the place of the old." Once again Kami tapped his staff, but nine times now. "Let a new era be declared as the light ascends to heaven over earth!"

The staff in Kami's hands suddenly turned silver and started glowing with a light gold light. Kami slammed his staff into the ground and Goku watched as the staff melted into the ground causing the Lookout to become bathed in a golden light. The wind suddenly picked up and continued to grow stronger like a hurricane was forming. For the first time that Goku could ever recall, clouds formed above the Lookout. These weren't normal white clouds or even the typical dark clouds seen during a fierce storm. These clouds were like soot with angry red patches and thousands of lightning bolts flying between the clouds.

Without warning, Goku found himself being lifted into the air by a constant gust of wind. For a split second he considered trying to fly away, but Goku squashed his instincts trusting that Kami knew what was going on. The saiyan continued to be carried further and further into the sky and watched in amazement as the clouds parted letting him climb higher. Now he could look down on the Lookout and watched as the golden light emanating from the divine residence started to swirl around. Suddenly, the glowing energy shot up like a geyser towards Goku.

The energy geyser quickly connected to the raging clouds unleashing a wave of primal magical energy. Very quickly, the clouds took on a golden color and then began to collapse in. The collapsing clouds created a blinding flash of light as a miniature yellow star formed in the sky. For several minutes the mini star hung in the sky. Slowly, ever so slowly, the star began to shrink. As it shrunk the outlines of the star took a human shape. Healthy, perfect flesh started to emerge from the blazing star's surface as it continued to shrink. A thunderous sound was heard as beams of slivery gold light shot out from Goku.

Reborn, the newly deified Goku gracefully floated down to the Lookout. Every inch of Goku's body was subtly transformed from what it had been as mortal. His muscles were more defined, his skin lost all of its old scars and appeared healthier, and his lost eye had been restored to him. The instant Goku's foot touched the Lookout, all of the plants on the floating island burst into bloom celebrating the birth of earth's new god.

Mr. Popo quickly appeared and handed Goku traditional planetary deity outfit. Goku quickly got dressed and then glanced over to Annin. The goddess was currently lying unconscious on the floor with a trickle of blood coming out of her nose.

* * *

The Afterlife Check-in Station was an utterly massive complex with a design similar to the Forbidden Palace, but on a much larger and grander scale. Kami, Annin, and Goku appeared on a viewing platform on top of a tower granting them an excellent view of the sea of souls coming in for judgment. Goku was gaping as he gazed out at all of the souls coming in. "Amazing, I never imagined that the afterlife would be like this."

A small smirk appeared on Annin's face. "It's quite a sight isn't it Goku? My grandfather's palace complex is over a 100 km long and 10 km wide." Seeing the look of utter shock on Goku's face, the goddess continued. "Why are you so surprised? Over a hundred planets are under King Yemma's supervision. If he didn't have registration booths every 100 meters the backline of souls waiting judgment would be ridiculous."

Goku nodded his head quickly coming to terms with what Annin told him. He had been told before that King Yemma was going to be his boss, but he hadn't thought about what judging the souls of so many worlds actually meant.

Kami chuckled at the new god and then glanced at Annin. "I think that we should proceed with introducing Goku to King Yemma. After all, your grandfather will want to meet his new subordinate and his new grandson-in-law." Once Annin nodded her head, Kami proceeded to walk over to a nearby pillar.

The young god glanced over at his mentor in confusion. "Uh Kami, why are you walking towards a pillar?"

Kami smiled and answered, "You've still got a lot to learn Goku. Here's your first lesson as a deity: it is considered to be extremely rude to fly around another deity's domain. That's why Annin landed as soon as she reached the edge of the Lookout. There are only two ways to properly travel around other deities' domains. First, you can walk. That option is rather impractical for us at the moment since King Yemma resides several kilometers away in the heart of this complex. Thus, we will be using the second travel method: the Tennin Gates. When a Tennin Gate is activated, it allows a deity to travel to any other gate in that Tennin Gate's network. Tennin Gates that are used for travel inside a deity's domain like King Yemma's palace are referred to as Tenshi Gates whereas the Tennin Gates between separate domains is known as Tennyo Gates."

"Uh Kami, why is this the first time I've heard of these gates? Also, why didn't we use these gates to get here?"

To Goku's surprise, Kami let out a small chuckle. "It's very simple Goku, until you became a god yourself you were unable to see, activate, or use the Tennin Gates. They're a method of transporting deities only. Thus, there really wasn't much point in me bringing them up. Also, a planetary god can always travel freely between their temple and the check-in complex of their ruler. It's a part of our power as the god of a planet. However, if we were to travel to another planet like say the planet Thanagar or to another check-in complex like say that of King Osiris whose domain starts a few light years from Earth we'd have to use the Tennin Gates. Now, watch as I use the gate."

Kami took a step closer to the wall and suddenly a glowing butterfly design appeared on the wall. The old god tapped the butterfly once causing a ripple of energy to flow from the center of the design to the edge of it. In a clear voice Kami said, "King Yemma's audience chambers." He tapped the butterfly once again and then disappeared in a light blue glow.

Annin used the gates and then Goku hesitantly tried the gates himself. Goku was surprised to find himself in a large room where a giant purple ogre in a business suit was nodding his head as a tiny blue creature talked. Both the ogre and the blue creature turned their heads to look at the newly arrived trio. King Yemma grinned and called out, "Annin! It's wonderful to see you again. How's my favorite troublesome granddaughter doing?"

Annin quickly grew in size so that she was just half a head shorter than King Yemma and gave him a hug. The duo ended their family embrace after a few moments and King Yemma then took notice of Kami and Goku. Seeing the questions in her grandfather's eyes, Annin quickly spoke up. "Grandfather, this is Kami and his successor Goku. Kami's here in order to present his successor to you. I'm here because Goku and I have agreed to marry each other."

No body was quite sure how King Yemma would take to news that his sweet and stubborn granddaughter was getting married. Kami, Goku, and King Kai watched as King Yemma's eyes rolled to the back of his head and the giant king fell to the ground. Annin blinked her eyes in shock and then cried out, "Grandfather!"

King Kai shook his head and muttered, "He goes complaining for the past millennium about you needing to settle down and he faints once that happens." Turning to look at the newcomers, King Kai politely coughed to get their attention. "Well, since the three of you have knocked out King Yemma I can't continue with my sector briefing now?" King Kai walked over to Goku and offered the saiyan a hand. "The name's King Kai, I'm your boss's boss so you can think of me as your big boss."

Goku shook King Kai's hand and replied, "I'm Goku Son, the recognized son of Bardock. It's a pleasure to meet you, but I thought that I'm not technically your underling until King Yemma confirms it."

The North Kaio snorted and quickly replied, "The moment you accepted being your planet's god and were turned into a deity you entered our system. Presenting you to the check-in deity is merely a formality and a courtesy call so that they know who they're supervising. Even if you weren't formally introduced, King Yemma would know who you are and would have met you when the next sector ball comes around."

King Kai then glanced up at Annin. "Hey Annin, how would you like me to sign your marriage papers since my schedule suddenly cleared up. The next time I'll have some free time is in nine months." King Kai turned towards Goku and offered an explanation. "Usually deity marriage contracts are handled by the check-in deities. However, Annin is a direct relative of King Yemma, which means that I have to handle the contract. It's a regulation that was put in place 800,000 years ago to insure that the contract is completely fair to both parities. Personally I find it to be a pain in the butt, but there's nothing I can do about it."

Annin closed her eyes and thought about what King Kai was saying. Part of her was screaming to wait. She had only agreed to marry Goku yesterday, why by the Kaioshin should she get married so soon! However, another part of her argued that nine months either way really wouldn't make much of a difference. Besides, what would change if she waited nine months verses getting married now? She had already agreed to the marriage and wasn't about to go back on her word. She had planed to spend most of her time at the Lookout getting to know Goku better and that wouldn't change whether they were married or not. While part of her was still uncomfortable with things changing so fast, she couldn't deny that it would be easier to just finish changing everything that trying to get used to the current status quo. "I don't mind filling out the paperwork now instead of in nine months."

Goku quickly agreed as well not seeing a reason to wait since they had an agreement. King Kai quickly led the couple into an adjacent room, sat down at a desk, and quickly pulled out a marriage form. The Kaio of the northern quadrant then pulled out his reading glasses and began to explain the contract terms. "Okay, let's get started. The first question we need to address is ruling rights. Do the two of you want your domains completely separate so that no matter what neither can decide any aspect of the other's domain? You also have the following alternatives: full joining of domains whereby both of you rule each other's domains with equal authority. Custodian joining whereby you each remain in charge of your domains, but you can allow the other to temporarily rule your domain. Which of the three options do you choose?"

Annin and Goku quietly talked about the options between themselves for a few minutes. Finally they nodded their heads coming to an agreement. Goku spoke for the both of them. "We'll go with the Custodian joining option King Kai."

King Kai nodded his head and filled out that part of the form. The blue god then turned his eyes to Annin. "Okay, this part is for Annin only as it concerns her Hera Rights. First, do you wish to hold your husband to strict monogamy requirements, nominal monogamy with any mortal lovers requiring your permission, or do you wave this and any further Hera Rights?"

"I chose nominal monogamy with any potential lovers requiring my okay." All of Annin's sisters said that it was the best choice for multi century long marriages and she was inclined to trust them.

"Okay, moving on to the next aspect of the Hera Rights. In the event that your husband becomes unfaithful you must select one of the following punishments for contract violation. First, you have the right to kill any mortal lovers. Second, you could have the right to transform any mortal lovers into creatures and give any children a task. The third option is the right send as many tasks and trials on the demigod as you wish. Finally, you have the right to lock your husband in the Blue Oyster Bar for a year of S&M nights. Which do you choose?"

"I'll go with the fourth option."

King Kai glanced at Goku and muttered, "Word of advice kid, don't screw around or you'll be screwed." King Kai then returned to the contract and said, "Alright, let's get to final aspect of the Hera Rights. In the event that a demigod is sired by your husband whether by your permission or not, you have the following rights: first, the right to declare the child your ward. In so doing, the child's mortal blood will be removed and replaced with your own making the child your biological child. Secondly, you could choose to assign the child a task which, if completed, will allow the child to ascend to a full deity. Your third option is to restrict the child so that all he or she will ever be is a demigod. Finally, you could choose to reserve the right to select one of the three earlier options for each demigod when he or she is born. Personally, I'd recommend any option but the fourth as it tends to be a major source of domestic deity quarrels."

Annin closed her eyes and thought about everything for a few minutes. Finally, she made her decision. "I choose the second option."

The blue deity flipped the page and then addressed Goku. "Okay Goku, now we come to the Abbas non Pardus, or 'Father of the Pantheon' section of the contract. Even under best circumstances a planetary deity usually can only live for 500 to 600 years. Some longer living races like the Nameks, Kami doesn't count in this regard since his splitting in two drastically shortened his life expectancy, can push a thousand, but there is still the fact that one day you'll have to give up your post and live permanently in the Afterlife. Now, selection of the next god is a tricky business with blood descendants typically getting precedence as successor. However, not setting up a clear line of succession leads to decade long headaches in our courts while the planet in question suffers. So we require that the father, that is you, to declare up front how the domain, that is Earth in this case, is to be passed along. Do you follow me so far Goku?"

Goku nodded his head. "I understand King Kai. What are the options that I have to choose from?"

King Kai quickly began to read the options to Goku. "Okay, your first option is strict Primogeniture where your firstborn by Annin inherits no matter what. Next, you have the option of semi-strict Primogeniture Type A whereby the first child of a specified gender Annin gives you inherits. Then there is Primogeniture Type B which is a little more liberal in that you can chose among the first born children that Annin and any other lovers you have to be your heir. Note that if you don't select any one child in particular, then Annin's first born will get the dominion by default. Finally you have limited and full consanguinity. Consanguinity in this situation simply means that you choose any child you deem best to hold the position. The limited caveat means that you can only choose from among Annin's children while full consanguinity will allow any demigods you father to inherit."

Goku's gut reaction was to go with full consanguinity since it made sense to go with the strongest and best able to take over. However, he didn't open his mouth since saying that almost seemed like he was planning on going after other women. That bothered Goku since it was tantamount to disrespecting Annin's position as his wife. Finally he said, "I choose the limited consanguinity option King Kai."

King Kai nodded his head and then read out a few more articles to the contract. Finally, the blue god handed the packet of papers to Annin. "Well, then it looks like everything is ready for your marriage contract. All you two need to do is sign on the marked lines and your marriage will be official." Annin signed the contract and then handed it to Goku who signed it as well. Goku handed the contract to King Kai who smiled as he accepted it.

Putting the contract down on the table, King Kai stood up and walked over to the newly married couple. "Well Annin and Goku, let me be the first to congratulate you both. May your marriage be long, loving, and full of quiet contentment; at least until the little hellions known as children come along when my wishes for you will be having a long, loving and not too much insomnia filled marriage."

* * *

When nightfall arrived at the Lookout, Goku was standing on the balcony connected to his and Annin's new quarters gazing out at the rest of the Lookout. Glancing out of the corner of his newly restored eye, Goku saw a light flickering in the window of one of the smaller pagodas. Kami was no doubt in his new chambers enjoying his retirement. The only thing on that account that Goku could say was that his predecessor deserved the chance to relax and that was grateful that Kami was stay on the Lookout to advise him.

The soft sound of footsteps caused Goku to turn his head back to his bedchamber where Annin walked in wearing a modest nightgown. Goku took a deep breath enjoying Annin's scent. For some strange reason it was richer now, as if it were somehow more right to his instincts. This was surprising to Goku since the only woman whose scent seemed right to him was Bulma. However, Annin's scent was infinitely better than Bulma's scent; none of the "wrongness" his instincts detected with Bulma's scent existed in Annin's. Unknown to Goku, Annin had altered her scent to match that of a saiyan female's scent as a private wedding present to Goku.

As if sensing something was wrong, Annin approached Goku and asked. "Is everything alright Goku?"

Goku sighed and replied. "Yes Annin, everything's fine. I'm just mentally exhausted from all that's happened these past two days. Not that there's anything wrong with what's happened; it's just that things haven't changed for me this much since I found my space pod all those years ago."

Annin closed her eyes and slowly nodded her head. "I fully understand where you're at Goku. The short time since we met to now being married has left me a bit stunned as well. I don't regret anything, but part of me is wondering what just happened."

Trying to lighten things up, Goku chuckled and said, "Look at the bright side. It's got to be a good sign for the future if we're both stunned since we're in it together."

Unable to help herself, Annin let out a small giggle and then opened her eyes. "Good point Goku, it probably is better if we're starting off on the same page." The young couple quickly burst out into full laughter for a few minutes. Once they had calmed down, Annin asked. "So Goku, do you have any plans for the future or are you still trying to wrap your mind around the fact that you are earth's new god?"

"I've got a few ideas Annin. Mostly, I want to get in touch with my friends since the last time they saw me was when the monks led me away after beating Piccolo. It wouldn't be right to just leave them wondering what's happened to me. Besides, I think it would be great if you got to know them. Besides that and making sure that everything goes as it should on earth, I want to start a training program."

"What kind of program Goku?"

"I want to turn the Turtle School and the schools of my friends into something more mainstream. Right now, I'm possibly the strongest being on the planet. However, I know that there are beings out there with far more power than I do and who don't have morals about using that power. Earth needs to be able to defend itself which means that it needs people who can fight at a level most humans think is impossible. Hopefully, I can get Krillin, Master Roshi, and the others to start teaching in the next few years. I don't think that we're in any danger yet since Earth isn't really that significant or noteworthy, but it doesn't hurt to prepare for the future."

Annin smiled and was touched about how much Goku was caring for those under his rule. She gently took a hold of his hand. "Enough of that for tonight Goku, it's time for you to get some rest. A good night's rest should help you think about these things tomorrow." Annin then led Goku into the couple's bed chambers and to the enormous god sized bed. The duo simply went to sleep that night. Neither felt comfortable about the idea of consummating their marriage nor did either of them have the energy even if they were so inclined.

* * *

Author's notes: Well folks, we no come to the end of the Dragonball section of the story. Onward to Dragonball Z land! I'll try to get another chapter out soon. However, being a senior in college means that soon for this is whenever I have the spare energy after writing school reports.


	11. Chapter 11

"Why that no good, two timing JACKASS!" Bulma screamed in absolute rage as she stormed down the streets of West City to Capsule Corp. The blue haired genius billionaire was practically glowing in rage causing everyone to clear a path for her. Everyone sensed that messing with her would not be a good idea. A few people wondered just who had enraged Bulma so and an even smaller subset wanted to know when the poor fool's funeral was scheduled.

Bulma didn't care about the scene she was raising. She didn't care that her 'rampage' back to Capsule Corp was being filmed and would be the star attraction of Celebrity Rage TV that night. All that mattered to Bulma was the scene she had witnessed back at the West City Kame Dojo ten minutes ago.

Things had been going so well for Bulma ever since the 23 Tenkaichi Budokai. True, she had been worried when Goku mysteriously disappeared, but that ended when Goku showed up a week later with his new wife and fellow deity Annin. Who could have imagined that the little kid she met all those years ago would become the god of the planet? Shock aside, Bulma was happy for Goku and how things were going for the saiyan. Little three year old Gohan was such a cutie.

Capsule Corp. had been making out like a bandit in the past couple of years thanks to Goku. The product endorsements the now three-time world champion occasionally gave were extremely helpful. However, the real help Goku provided was the technology he gave to Bulma. Most of it wasn't economically viable yet, but some parts were extremely helpful allowing CC Lunar Ring Mining to become a major success.

As far as Bulma had been concern, her father's business success had been the icing on top of a wonderful cake. She had been able to pursue her studies into Ki when she wasn't needed to help with a side project dealing in Saiyan technology. Her last two papers on Ki and its properties were shaking up the scientific establishment. Academics had been scratching their heads to explain King Piccolo and the feats recorded at the Tenkaichi Budokais until she started to explain things in ways they couldn't deny.

However, none of that mattered to Bulma after what she had just seen mere minutes ago. She had left her lab early to go meet up with Yamcha for a surprise date. The two of them hadn't had much time together in the past month. Between her science conferences and his new classes at the dojo they had barely gotten the chance to talk with each other. Bulma had figured that the two of them could go out tonight as a surprise treat to celebrate how well the dojo was doing.

Unfortunately, the surprise was on her when she spotted Yamcha kissing one of his students. Bulma had watched for a few seconds praying to Goku and Annin that it had been the student kissing Yamcha and not the other way around. The divine couple wasn't able to answer Bulma's prayer as Yamcha quickly resumed the kiss after the duo paused to breath.

Bulma had finally reached Capsule Corp and quickly headed towards her suit. Once Bulma got there, she quickly flung herself onto her bed and cried. Why the hell was this happening to her? Wasn't she smart, beautiful (voted sexiest unmarried woman in the world three times in a row), and understanding? So what the hell was running through Yamcha's apparently brain dead mind?

It took Bulma over an hour of crying and constantly asking what had gone wrong before she was able to calm down enough to think. Once she did that, the genius quickly decided that she needed to get out of West City. Being here and constantly reminded about what she had seen would drive her crazy. But, where could she go?

Suddenly, the proverbial light bulb turned on. Bulma quickly pulled out her phone and selected one of her contacts. The phone rang for a few times until it was picked up. Bulma then heard a now familiar voice come across the phone. "Hello, this is the Son residence with Annin Son speaking. Will you please state who you are and why you are calling?"

Very quickly, the genius responded. "Hi Annin, its Bulma something just happened with Yamcha and I need to talk with you."

"Oh no, is everything okay?"

"Nothing's okay Annin, I saw the jackass cheating on me an hour ago with one of his students!"

Annin's voice got an edge to it as she growled out her response. "I can't believe that he went and cheated on you. Yamcha always seemed like such a decent guy. Should I send Goku to go 'spar' with Yamcha, blow up his apartment, or throw him into an underground gay SM bar?"

In spite of the situation, a small smirk appeared on Bulma's face. "As tempting as the offer sounds Annin, I was wondering if it would be okay if I visited you guys. Right now, I just need to get out of here and clear my head."

Barely giving it a thought, Annin gave Bulma her answer. "Of course you can come over. I'll have Goku get you at Korin's. Its better you be with friends right now than on your own. Besides, Gohan wants to see you anyway."

* * *

Out in the wastelands, Piccolo was floating by a waterfall meditating. His mind returned to the events of the 24 Tenkaichi Budokai almost a year ago. Once again, Piccolo had entered the tournament hoping to fight Goku and prove that he was stronger. This time, almost none of Goku's associates had entered which actually made the tournament rather boring. He and Goku were simply in a league of their own; fitting really since he was the Prince of Demons and Goku was Earth's new god.

However, the result was the same as last time: Goku pulled out a victory after being slightly stronger. Where had Goku learned that Kaio-Ken technique he used on that last reversal? Goku claimed it was a wedding present from King Kai, but that didn't make any sense. None of the Afterlife spirits he had contacted at great expense knew about King Kai using such a powerful technique. About the only solid lead he did have was that one ogre who claimed that King Kai had supposedly created the Kaio-Ken technique, but had never been able to use it himself. That made no sense because what kind of joker would give someone a technique which they can't use themselves?

Piccolo's brow scrunched up as he once again tried to grabble with the central issue of his short life: beating Goku. He had stopped trying to avenge his father after the 23 Tenkaichi Budokai, but he still wanted to beat Goku. Why had he been excited at the prospect of fighting Goku again at the tournament, but only at the tournament? What made the thought of simply beating Goku in a private duel leave a bitter taste in his mouth? These were the questions Piccolo was trying to answer.

Being so deep in thought, Piccolo was almost completely ignoring his surroundings. This normally wasn't a problem since humans always avoided the 'devil plains' as his usual stomping ground was known in the nearest settlements. Without warning, a ki blast came out of nowhere and slammed into Piccolo's side. Before Piccolo could brace himself for the first blast, a second blast came from the opposite side and hit Piccolo.

Piccolo crawled out of the explosion covered in his purple blood. The namekian quickly tried to power up; quite a tricky thing given the damage the unsuspected preemptive strike caused him. However, Piccolo was shocked when he sensed two powers near his own. It didn't make any sense. The only people with this kind of power were Goku and Annin. But, it couldn't be them because Annin wasn't that strong and neither would attack him like this.

This momentary confusion gave Piccolo's unnamed attackers the chance to get behind the Namek and kick his head. Piccolo fell to the ground unconscious leaving the two figures standing over him smirking in triumph.

One of the figures leaned down and slammed his fist into Piccolo's back. The attacker darkly chuckled and replied, "That was for all my cousins you killed Escar! You know what they say, payback is a bitch and she'll beat you when you least expect it."

While the speaker was grinding Piccolo's face into the ground with his boot, the other attacker leaned in to exam Piccolo better. This attacker blinked his eyes and then looked at his companion. "Hey Vinegar, I think we got the wrong guy."

Vinegar turned his head and shouted, "Are you out of your mind Spice? This clearly is Escar. In case you've forgotten after being sealed for so long, the only being on this planet that is green, has antennas, and bleeds purple is Escar. Thus, this person has to be the damned bastard who sealed us and Master Garlic away."

Spice replied, "Used your brain for once Vinegar. Escar should be a shriveled up and wrinkly old slug by now. It has been over three hundred years since we were imprisoned. This guy's simply too young to be Escar."

Vinegar glanced at the commander of the Spice Boys and scratched his head. "Uh yah, I see what you're saying now. What are we going to do about this freak then? Master Garlic told us to bring back Escar's bloody and broken body so he could kill the slug himself."

Without much of a care, Spice first kicked Piccolo into the air and then kicked him into a nearby mountain. The blue warrior quickly launched four beams of energy which promptly pierced Piccolo's limbs and then turned into spears embedded in the mountain. Spice smirked at his handy work. "It's simple Vinegar; we'll leave Escar's lookalike here to die. He's probably connected to the old slug in some way and the sight of him like this ought to throw Escar off his game. Now, let's continue to scout things out to see what opposition awaits us as Master Garlic becomes the supreme ruler of this planet."

* * *

Gohan was in a meadow looking down at a fox hole trying to see if any foxes were in the hole. "Come out, come out little foxy. I just want to see you."

A raven haired girl walked over to the infant god and shook her head. "Are you sure you've got the right fox hole Gohan? I haven't seen any fox for a while."

Gohan pouted and replied, "I'm sure that there's a fox here Videl. The fox feels like its close by and we did see it around here yesterday."

Videl sighed and kicked a rock. Why wouldn't the fox just show up? She quickly grew bored with just standing in the field and wanted to do something. Unfortunately, Gohan was the only kid here at the training camp and he was bound and determined to see the fox. Sure, she could go play by herself, but that wasn't a lot of fun. It looked like it was time to pull out her trump card. "Hey Gohan, lets go get something to eat."

The young demi-saiyan's reaction was immediate as Gohan looked up from the fox hole. "That's a great idea Videl." Gohan quickly grabbed Videl's hand and practically dragged her away from the meadow like a rag doll as he raced for the snack table.

Gohan quickly reached the snack table and hurriedly grabbed a marshmallow the size of his head and stuck in on his tail. The little deity quickly positioned his tail over a campfire and grinned as the marshmallow started to warm up. There was a pole rising out of the bonfire Gohan was warming up his marshmallow with and one of Goku's new students was on the pole doing one finger pushups.

Mark Satan, better known by his stage name of Hercule, paused at his 1,000th pushup to shake his head. It was almost unbelievable that the little carefree kid below him was at least twice a strong as he was. Hell, he wouldn't have believed it himself if it wasn't for his emerging ki senses going nuts at the power sleeping in the boy.

Last year, Hercule had entered the 24 Tenkaichi Budokai hoping to win the tournament since he had been blazing through regional tournaments. However, his ambitions had stopped dead in their tracks when Goku made his surprising return to defend his championship title. Everyone in the martial arts world had thought that Goku had gone into retirement since really, what could a man do after he's beaten an ancient demon that seized control of the planet and became the first consecutive winner of the tournament?

Goku didn't really have his eye on the championship belt during the tournament. It had been for the contestants that Goku had gone. He had been observing the other contestants observing their skill and how they acted. At the end of the tournament, Earth's new deity had selected the 32 fighters with the best mix of skill and mentality to have the option of studying under him. Like most of the contestants, Hercule had eagerly accepted once Goku said he could bring his family with him.

Hercule thought that things had gone great since he accepted Goku's offer. He was learning skills that he had never thought were possible before. His wife Dominique was happy to be staying in one place where she could open up her shop and raise Videl. As for Videl, well, his little girl was having loads of fun with her playmate Gohan. Hercule then watched as Gohan walked away with the roasted marshmallow to quickly make a smoore. The little deity then broke the smoore in half giving one half to Videl.

As the two preschoolers ate their snack, Hercule resumed his exercise and Bulma pulled up in her airplane. Bulma stepped out of her airplane and quickly put it back in the capsule. She then walked over to Gohan who was finishing up the last bite of his smoore. "Hey kiddo, it's great to see you again."

Gohan blinked his eyes for a second and then his face broke out into a giant smile. "Auntie Bulma, you came for a visit!" Gohan shot up and rushed at Bulma to go into a tackle hug. Naturally, the force of Gohan's hug knocked Bulma to the ground.

"Easy there Gohan, I'm not as strong as you." Bulma cheerfully said as she returned Gohan's hug. After a minute or so of hugging Gohan, Bulma gently coaxed him off of her lap. She then stood up and said, "Hey Gohan. Could you be a big boy and let your parents know that I've come over for a visit?"

The three year old half saiyan nodded his head and then rushed off to Korin's Tower. Before Bulma had a chance to blink, her eyes caught a tiny blur zooming up the tower like a bullet from a gun. "Wow," Bulma muttered as she watched Gohan run out of sight. "The kid's really gotten fast!"

A few minutes later, Goku flew down from sky with Gohan riding his back. Goku did a few rolls for Gohan's enjoyment and then landed next to Bulma. The blue haired genius watched with a bit of jealousy as Goku let Gohan down and then told him about some rabbits in a nearby meadow that the little boy could watch. Seeing Goku and his son having a tender moment only rubbed in her relationship problems.

Once Gohan left to see the rabbits, Goku turned and looked at Bulma with a more serious and concerned face. "What's wrong Bulma? Annin told me that you were coming over because you needed to be with some friends because something came up."

Bulma's face darkened as she clenched her fists. "What's wrong Goku? I'll tell you what's wrong, what's wrong is that I go to Yamcha's dojo hoping to go on a surprise date only to find him having a make-out session with one of his students! I had everything set! I rearrange three different meetings so I could have the evening off, booked the best restaurant in West City, and he goes and cheats on me."

Goku quickly gave Bulma a hug as she started crying. Unseen by Bulma, Goku's eyes narrowed and his face hardened. At Goku's command, a cloud above West City darkened and launched a massive thunderbolt. The thunderbolt hit Yamcha and shocked him until Bulma stopped crying a few minutes later. Once Bulma stopped crying, Goku picked her up and flew her to the Lookout so that she could spend some time with him and Annin.

* * *

Kami was sitting in front of his side temple sipping some tea as Goku and Bulma came to the lookout. The former god of Earth watched as his successor lead the genius into the main temple where Annin was currently at preparing Gohan's afternoon snack. It wasn't that odd to see a mortal up on the lookout these days. Goku usually brought a few of his disciples up here every couple of days for some individual training.

Overall, Kami was enjoying the past four years since he started retirement. Goku was doing a wonderful job as Earth's god just like he thought the Saiyan would do. The new deity's marriage to Annin was going great which meant that Kami didn't have to hear any arguments. Finally, Gohan was such a joy to be around and it was great to just be 'Grandpa K' to the little guy.

Mr. Popo came around with a fresh teapot and a smile a few minutes after Goku and Bulma entered the main temple. "Would you like me to refresh your drink Kami?"

The old god smiled and said, "Certainly Mr. Popo." He then held out his cup to be refilled. Just before Mr. Popo could refill the cup, Kami dropped his cup and clutched his chest in pain.

The ancient genie's eyes widened in fear as Kami cringed in pain. "Oh no Kami, what is wrong?"

With labored breath Kami replied, "Something's wrong Mr. Popo. I think Piccolo's near death."

Mr. Popo immediately left Kami and raced for the main temple. If Kami was hurt because of his link with Piccolo than there was nothing he could do. However, there might be something that Goku or Annin could do. The genie quickly located Goku who was in the kitchen chatting with Bulma and Annin as the goddess put the finishing touches on Gohan's snack. "Goku," Mr. Popo cried out, "Kami's hurt. He says it's because Piccolo is close to death!"

Goku quickly turned to Annin and said, "I'll go check on Piccolo in the viewing fountain. If he's seriously hurt I'll bring him to Korin's for healing." With that, Goku left to check on his rival.

Bulma turned to Annin and asked, "Why is Goku so concerned about Piccolo? I mean, he seems more concerned about Piccolo's health than he is about the average person and Goku is concerned about almost everyone he meets."

Putting down the apple slicer in her hand, Annin smiled at Bulma. "Piccolo is important for many reasons. First, his life is linked with Kami so if one dies both die. If Kami dies, then the dragonballs are lost. Also, Piccolo has an important role to play in keeping everything in balance."

Bulma blinked her eyes in confusion. "Excuse me, Piccolo keeps everything balanced? I can understand why you'd want him around because of the dragonballs, but what does he have to do with balance? His father might have been a balance to Goku in that King Piccolo was a complete monster who slaughtered without a thought. The opposite of everything Goku is, but Piccolo just stays in his desert and challenges Goku at the Tenkaichi Budokai"

Picking up the tray with the snack on it Annin replied, "Piccolo brings balance as the 'hell champion' of Earth. He naturally brings order to the darker aspects of life such as crime, war, and the evil in men's hearts. That's not to say he causes people to be evil, but rather he provides limits on the amount of negative influences in an area. Without the hell champion, the balance between good and evil would be broken. Random areas would become cesspools of corruption with possible gateways into Hell itself. Other areas would become peaceful paradises as all 'evil' leaves these spots. Only, those areas would quickly be destroyed by the beings that would reside in the corrupted zones. Even if Goku and I dedicated all our efforts to regulating the negative energies, we still couldn't do as good a job as Piccolo naturally does."

It was all rather fascinating to Bulma for her to hear the workings of the cosmos explained by Annin. However, something really bugged her. "You mean to tell me that Earth needs a Devil to have life as well as a God?"

Annin turned to Mr. Popo and said, "Would you please go get Gohan so he can have his snack? I'll be giving it to him in the nursery." She then turned to Bulma and said, "Walk with me and I'll explain." The two women then left the kitchen while Annin continued her conversation. "Earth does not need a 'devil' Bulma. The cycles that maintain life are handled just find by the planetary deity. However, sentient life adds an enormous amount of complexity to the systems that my husband maintains simply by being in his position. Having such vast numbers of people with so many different outlooks like the Earth has makes things even more complicated. As a whole, Earth's systems are so complex that errors can occur even with a good deity. The hell champion acts as an extra regulator to help maintain some systems so that the whole web of cycles is in better condition."

"Unlike a planetary deity, hell champions don't have to have a pure heart. They also aren't associated with any pantheon or grouping as they are typically loners. In fact, the name 'hell champion' came about because they typically come from the darker sides of society due to their position. Some have been complete monsters, but there is a wide spectrum of hell champions. Some have even been considered heroes, but not nearly as clean as most heroes are."

Annin finished her explanation just as they reached the nursery. Bulma opened the door for Annin who then walked over to Gohan's desk and set the tray down. Mr. Popo then came into the nursery with the little god at his side. Gohan quickly gave his mother a hug and then sat down for his snack.

* * *

While Gohan was blissfully having his snack, Goku was flying towards Korin Tower with Piccolo slung over his shoulder. It was a good thing that Goku always had a senzu on hand just in case or Piccolo would be dead by now. The god's eyes darkened as he thought of the condition he had found Piccolo in. Whoever had attacked Piccolo had a sadistic side that Goku hadn't seen in a long time. That was not what he needed: some new powerful person who obviously wasn't up to any good.

Coming in sight of the tower, Goku flew up to Korin's hermitage where Korin and Upa were waiting for him. He quickly moved through the hermitage's large windows and gently set Piccolo down on the ground. Korin rushed over and examined the downed Prince of Demons. "Well, I never thought I'd see the day when I'd have Piccolo resting in my house."

Goku chuckled at Korin's remark. "Sorry, but I thought it would be better to bring Piccolo here then back to the lookout. Even given the situation, I don't think Kami and Annin would want him there; especially since Gohan's getting ready for his nap."

Upa got a small smirk on his face when Goku said that. "You're right, it probably is better for you to have brought Piccolo here. I'll go inform the students about our unexpected guest. Is there anything else I should inform them about?"

Goku closed his eyes for a second as he thought about the situation. "Tell them all to go to the tribe's village and keep watch. They're not to engage any powerful challengers that might come, but are to focus on keeping the villagers safe. Tell them to prepare the village for evacuation just in case. Someone out there nearly killed Piccolo; none of them are ready for a threat like that yet."

The young man nodded his head and then flew out of the building. Korin then turned to Goku and said, "I don't like the looks of this. If Piccolo was truly beaten as bad as you say, then I fear this new enemy could be stronger than you, Goku. I can only hope that Piccolo can and will be willing to reveal some trick by which he was overpowered."

Trying to reassure his friend and teacher, Goku smiled at Korin. "Hey, don't forget that I have the Kaio-Ken. With it I can become twice a powerful as I usually am and I'm already a little stronger than Piccolo. If that fails, I still have my Oozaru state as a backup."

Korin relaxed a bit when he heard Goku bring those facts up. "Yes, you're right that Piccolo's defeat doesn't mean were out for the count yet."

Goku just smiled at Korin and replied, "True, but it is good that you're looking into the seriousness of this situation. At least one of us needs to look at the worse case scenario so that we all know what could happen. I just wish we could have some information on what this threat is after."

The white cat nodded his head, "As do I Goku, as do I."

* * *

On a lonely island was a small cave which led to a massive stone chamber underneath the water. The chamber was ornamented with scenes of brutality and demonic looking figures. In the middle of it all, was a black stone throne which Garlic Jr. sat on looking at his surviving minions the spice boys. Spice and Vinegar were returning from their mission while Mustard and Salt were standing on both sides of the throne. Spice and Vinegar bowed to Garlic and Spice said, "Master Garlic, we've returned from scouting Earth."

Garlic nodded his head and replied, "Report on what you found Spice."

Spice stood up and gave his report. "We detected several individuals with a great deal of power, although their powers were only a fraction of ours. These individuals were surrounded by many individuals with minor amounts of power. No doubt these individuals are students or servants of the ones with greater power. The minor powered humans are no threat to us, but might provide good sport compared to the regular weaklings."

"Vinegar and I did find one individual whose power rivaled our own. We used a surprise attack to eliminate him as a possible threat. He bore a great deal of resemblance to Escar so I pinned his body up as a warning to the old slug. As we didn't detect Escar, I can only assume that he is currently hiding in your future palace Master Garlic."

A scowl crossed Garlic Jr.'s face as he muttered, "Escar. I've waited so long to kill that damned slug for what he did to me. He took everything from me, my lands, my empire, my army, and my rightful position as master of this planet! He took all that from me and then trapped me in that accursed tomb to rub my defeat in my face for all eternity. Well, I've shown him by escaping. That fool must have never found out about the Makyo Star and the power that it grants us."

Garlic Jr. stood up and hopped off of his throne and onto the floor. "Spice Boys, come with me. It's time we started setting this planet into its proper order, my order. We're going to take the Lookout which is rightfully mine. Once that is done, this planet will be covered in darkness as I use the Makyo Star's power to breech dimensions and allow our kin to return to Earth from Hell!"

* * *

Author's notes: I actually was able to find my muse for this story and convinced, read groveled at her feet, her to return. For the foreseeable future, I'll be alternating between this story and my newest one Heirs of Earth.


	12. Chapter 12

Piccolo opened his eyes to see Goku and Korin standing over him. With a scowl, the self-proclaimed Prince of Demons demanded, "Where am I and what have you done to me Goku?"

Goku gave his rival a small smile and replied, "You're at Korin's place. I just brought you here and gave you a senzu bean to keep you alive. No offense, but I don't want to travel to Hell just to have another match with you."

Despite the situation, Piccolo couldn't help smirking a bit at Goku's comment. "Well Goku, thanks to your actions you're going to have to put up with me for a little while longer."

Korin tapped the floor with his staff and said, "We have pressing business to deal with now that you are awake and in good health Piccolo. Who attacked you?"

With a snort Piccolo replied, "It was a sneak attack while I was meditating so I don't know just who it was. All I can tell you is that there were two people who attacked me and they both were a lot more powerful then you hairball."

Goku placed a hand on Korin's head and his face hardened. "Now is not the time for our usual bickering. There shouldn't be someone strong enough to beat Piccolo like he was even if it was a surprise attack besides me. None of the other Turtle/Crane masters have half of the necessary power and all of their students are far weaker. Our bi yearly planetary student search last month showed there was no one on the planet with that kind of power." Deep in his heart, Goku feared that these attackers might be heralds of the Saiyans or someone connected to their trade.

The Prince of Demons quickly stood up and walked over to Goku. "I don't really care what your scanners say your holiness. Obviously they're not working as well as you thought as these beings are here." Piccolo scrunched his nose like he smelled something putrid before he continued. "Whoever attacked me is likely just a grunt. For the moment, I'm willing to consider a temporary alliance between you and me."

Goku smiled and said, "It would be great to work with you for a change Piccolo."

Piccolo turned away and huffed. "This is only a temporary alliance Goku. I need a meat shield to keep from getting shot in the back and you'll be able to do the job perfectly. Besides, working with you for now will save me the headaches of having to rework my plans when you and your band of misfits show up to 'save the day' as you so love to do."

To Korin's surprise, Goku smirked and replied, "Oh don't worry Piccolo. I understand you perfectly. Why don't you wait here while I go inform Annin and the others about our situation?" Goku then flew out of the tower and headed up to the Lookout.

Quickly reaching the Lookout, Goku dashed to the main temple and then ran through the halls to the nursery. Goku paused for a second to compose himself at the door before he entered the room so that he didn't upset Gohan. He quickly spotted Gohan at his play table eating a snack that looked like an emperor's feast. Annin and Bulma were standing a few feet behind Gohan chatting.

Annin quickly spotted Goku and ended her conversation with Bulma with a hand motion. She then walked over to her husband and asked, "Is everything alright Goku?"

Goku frowned and quietly replied, "Something's come up like Mr. Popo feared. I want you to go get Mr. Popo and have him stay here in the nursery to guard Gohan. However, I want you to prep the Tennin Gate in here for emergency transport to your father's palace just in case. I don't think we'll need it, but Gohan needs it if things don't go as we expect." Goku quickly gave Annin a light kiss and smiled to reassure her.

The goddess's eyes hardened slightly and she nodded her head. She walked over to one of the frescos on the nursery walls and discreetly tapped three hidden buttons to prep the Tennin Gate for an emergency transport. Annin then walked over to Gohan and cheerfully said, "Gohan, your father and I need to take care of a few routine tasks now. I'm going to go get Mr. Popo to play with you while we take care of those tasks. Can you be a big boy and stay here until Mr. Popo comes to play?"

Gohan pulled a leg bone out of his mouth and replied, "Okay Mommy. I'll wait here for Uncle Popo." Annin then kissed Gohan and left the nursery.

While Annin left the room, Goku walked over to Bulma. He then quietly said, "Bulma, we've got some unknown fighters on the loose who are stronger then our friends. I need you to boot up the sensors and find them. Also, pull up any deep space information you can find on objects that came close to Earth in the past month or so. It's possible we might have an Operation Meteor situation on our hands."

Bulma's face paled when she hear Goku say the words Operation Meteor. The phrase was something Krillin came up with a couple of years ago after watching an old show. It simply meant that hostile aliens had appeared on Earth. Bulma quickly left the nursery to go to a spot with better reception so she could access CC's computers.

Goku watched as his oldest friend left the room and sighed. The knowledge that he was about to deal with an unknown powerful enemy made the young god feel far older than his 22 years. His blood was pumping at the challenge, but Goku's heart wished that things had remained peaceful. A quick glance at Gohan enjoying his snack without a care drove home to Goku that peace was immeasurably better than an adventure.

* * *

A few minutes later Annin, Goku, Kami, Korin, and Piccolo were assembled in Korin's Tower. All the non-Namek fighters were wearing Bulma's special armor. As for the technical genius herself, Bulma was up on the Lookout talking with everyone through a videophone. Bulma was the first to speak up. "Alright everyone, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that the sensors have detected 5 beings with high levels of ki. One of these beings has an output of 9,000. That's the bad news. Luckily the other four only have ki outputs that range from 4,000 to 6,000. I can give you slightly more exact power readings on the four grunts, but not by much. The good news is that except for these five flying towards us the sky is clear. Wherever these people came from, they didn't get here by spaceship."

Goku nodded his head and replied, "Thanks for the info Bulma. Alert the rest of the gang but tell them that they're to stay out of the fight. If we fail, they need to go to ground in order to train." Bulma nodded her head and turned off the videophone. Goku then continued to speak. "Alright here's the game plan unless any of you can think of a better one. I'll fight their strongest fighter since I'm currently the most powerful among us even without the Kaio-Ken. Annin and Piccolo should each focus on the stronger grunts. Kami and Korin, you two will have to double team one of the weaker fighters. Whoever finishes with their target first gets to fight the remaining grunt. Do you all agree?"

Both Annin and Korin quickly nodded their heads in agreement. Piccolo snorted, but he didn't raise any complaints. Kami warily glanced at Piccolo and then nodded his head in agreement.

It was a good thing that they all agreed on the plan because they quickly sensed Garlic Jr's group as in approached. Goku quickly flew out of the tower closely followed by Piccolo. Annin left a few seconds later followed by Korin and Kami. The five warriors flew several dozen miles away from the Lookout and then waited for the uninvited guests to arrive.

They didn't have to wait long as Garlic Jr. and the Spice Boys soon came into view. Garlic Jr. floated a few feet away from Goku with the Spice Boys forming a square protective formation around him. The pale teal colored Makyan frowned as he tried to make sense of the energies he was sensing from Goku's group. His eyes quickly focused on Kami and his frown turned into a snarl. "There you are Escar! After 300 years I've finally freed myself of that retched prison you cast me into and now I shall have my revenge."

Piccolo turned to look at Kami and asked, "What the hell did you do to piss off this runt?"

Kami quickly shot back, "It more like what your father and I did since I don't really recognize our opponent. Although, I will admit that I'm feeling a great deal of disgust and loathing when I look at him. Whatever happened with him must have occurred before your father and I separated."

Steam was almost literally billowing out of Garlic Jr's ears by this point. He stomped his feet on an invisible floor and shouted, "How dare you forget about my father and I Escar. My father Garlic would have seized his rightful divinity from that old goat if you hadn't meddled and taken it for yourself. Then when I used those dragonballs you created to gain immortality so that you couldn't kill me, your damned overgrown snake turned my kingdom into a fucking wasteland!"

Everyone glanced at Kami who nervously lowered his head and chuckled. "Well, I do recall that there were some problems with the negative energy that the dragonballs created while granting a wish at first. It wasn't until I had gotten rid of all of my negative feelings and emotions that I was finally able to get all the bugs out of the dragonballs."

Garlic Jr. snorted and spat out, "I don't care. All that is important now is that I, Garlic Jr., finally take my rightful place as ruler of this planet and link it up with Hell."

Goku's ki quickly rose and he called out to Garlic Jr. "This planet is under my protection Garlic Jr. You're not going to succeed as long as I am around. As Earth's god, I tolerate no threats, KAIO-KEN!" Goku's aura turned crimson and his hair swept up as he activated the Kaio-Ken technique. He then closed the gape between him and Garlic Jr. faster than any of the Spice Boys' could react and shot a beam of ki strait through Garlic Jr.'s heart.

Garlic Jr. glanced down at the hole in his chest and then kicked Goku in the head. As Goku rocketed away, the Makyan sneered, "You dumbass. What part of 'I'm immortal' don't you understand?" Garlic Jr. casually noticed Goku's prompt recovery and then turned his head to look at the Spice Boys. "Kill them boys."

Spice grinned and said, "You heard Master Garlic men. Let's give our lord a massacre to celebrate his ascension!" Spice quickly flew off to attack Goku. Vinegar cracked his knuckles and then moved in for a rematch with Piccolo. Mustard quickly decided he wanted to lock horns with Annin. Salt actually paused for a few seconds to debate over who he should fight. However, Korin and Kami were able to solve the midget's problem by both of them giving him the finger.

Goku wiped away the blood from his lip and immediately blocked Spice's incoming kick. The saiyan then grabbed Spice's fist and smirked. "Not a bad opening combo. However, it is rather weak compared to several aerial openings I've seen."

Spice growled and screamed, "What! Just what would a child like you know about fighting?"

With a cheerful grin Goku replied, "Oh plenty of things like this." His eyes then widened and he shouted out, "Solar Flare!" The blinding light shot out of Goku's eyes hitting Spice right in the face. Not wasting a second, Goku used his opponent's distraction to grab the man's head and ram it into his knee. There was a sickening crunch as Spice's nose broke.

Luckily for Spice, his fighting instincts weren't terrible and he quickly punched Goku in the side. He then grabbed his nose and cauterized the wound with his ki. The leader of Garlic Jr.'s minions quickly backed away from Goku and tried to reassess the situation. Privately in his mind Spice admitted that Goku had almost killed him with a last move. Who knew that one of Escar's students would be so brutal?

Goku looked at Spice and thought about the quickest way to kill him. As a god, he could sense the hearts of people he saw and especially those who he fought with. Spice's heart was pure evil without even a speck of good from which redemption could grow. The only thing to do with someone like Spice was to remove them from the Mortal World and send them to Hell. Actually, over half of Hell's residents were better than Spice was. Goku activated Kaio-Ken and shot off to attack Spice's back.

Spice whipped around just in time to block Goku's fist. However, he still caught the follow-up kick as Goku spun his body around like a whip. In retaliation, Garlic Jr.'s commander kneed Goku in the gut. Both fighters were quickly reduced to simple head to head punches and kicks as neither could move in for a killing blow.

Floating a reasonable distance away from her husband, Annin wielded a flaming naginata as she faced off against the horned Mustard. The air around Annin was sizzling from the heat of her blade which was that of the Earth's core. In a slightly haughty manner for intimation Annin said, "Stupid mortal, do you truly dare to challenge a goddess? Surrender now or I will cast your soul into Hell."

Like a dumb ox, Mustard snorted. "Do you really think that frightens me? You goddess are all a bunch of weaklings who only exist because some deities don't want the trouble of getting new playthings every few decades-"

Mustard's comment came to an abrupt halt as Annin's eyes glowed and summoned dozens of lighting bolts to strike the Makyan. Not giving her opponent an opening, Annin utilized Kaio-Ken causing her blade to become even hotter. She then shot at Mustard like a rocket and sliced his head off. Out of the corner of her eye, Annin saw her dead enemy's bloody carcass start to fall. She pointed two fingers at it sending a stream of blue fire which almost immediately consumed it.

Annin brought her naginata to a guard position and shook her head. "What a moron. If he had bothered to use his senses it would have been obvious that we were almost equal in power. You don't dismiss any opponent; it only leaves you dead."

She then glanced over to where Piccolo was fighting with Vinegar. Piccolo really tore into Vinegar as he looked for payback for the minion's surprise attack earlier. There was a vicious grin on the Demon Prince's face as he slashed at Vinegar and lunged with mountain smashing kicks.

Just as he looked, Vinegar easily soaked up Piccolo's attacks and dished several bone shattering punches of his own. If Piccolo didn't have his regeneration abilities then he wouldn't have been able to continue fighting. Annin couldn't help wincing a bit as she watched Vinegar break Piccolo's kneecap with a kick. Still, she saw that he had things in hand as the shattered knee quickly regenerated.

She then turned her attention to Kami and Korin as they fought against Salt. The duo was holding their own against Garlic Jr.'s weakest warrior. However, it was quickly obvious that they were only holding on through skill and teamwork. Salt was simply too powerful for Kami or Korin to beat even when they were working together. Most of their attacks only singed his clothes or bounced off the little Makyan. They would need a heavy hitter or Salt would win when they tired or slipped up.

Since she no longer had an opponent, Annin elected herself to be the heavy hitter. She slowly maneuvered herself closer to the trio's battle. Kami and Korin noticed what Annin was doing and began to modify their attacks to help her out. While the goddess was waiting she caught a glimpse of Goku using Kaio-Ken to get behind Spice and snap the Makyan's neck with an arm twist. The sound of Spice's neck snapping quickly grabbed Salt's attention creating an opening that Annin easily exploited. Without any hesitation, Annin activated Kaio-Ken and ran her naginata through Salt's stomach.

* * *

"Memo to me, check the warranty on my minions next time before going into battle." Garlic Jr. was furious as he watched the Spice Boys get killed one by one. Vinegar was the last to die about a minute after Salt was killed. That particular death was a little disturbing to watch as the Escar look alike literally tore Vinegar's heart out and shoved it down his throat.

With Vinegar dead, Earth's heroes circled around Garlic Jr. Goku flew a little bit closer to Makyan and said, "You attempt to gain control has failed Garlic Jr. Surrender and I will arrange for you to be transported to Hell so that you can be with your people."

Garlic Jr. snorted and replied, "Are you on pot or something? You just lucked through the first round. In case you've forgotten, none of you have fought me yet and I'm immortal!" Garlic Jr. threw off his cape and then powered up.

The Makyan's power level quickly passed Goku's causing the young god to turn to Korin and Kami. "Get out of here you two! You're just a liability for us in this fight."

Garlic Jr. glanced at the duo as he finished powering up and snorted. He then launched two balls of ki from his fingertips and screamed out, "Against me, everyone is a liability!" Annin instantly went into Kaio-Ken and barely managed to deflect the attacks.

Goku quickly called out to Annin, "Escort them away from the battlefield." He then turned to Piccolo and said, "I know we're in an alliance of convenience, but I need to know whether or not you're willing to watch my back in this fight."

Piccolo cracked his knuckles and replied, "Don't worry Goku. I won't shoot you in the back. After all, I still need my meat shield."

Not waiting for his foes to finish talking, Garlic Jr. rushed out and attacked the duo. Goku and Piccolo quickly took opposite sides and tried to pound Garlic Jr. who was now in between them. As the trio fought, the little Makyan slowly started to shift his attacks to focus more on Goku. This was because he was having the most trouble fighting someone so much smaller.

Goku barely managed to block one of Garlic Jr.'s punches and glanced at Piccolo. Seeing a certain look in the Prince of Demon's eyes, Goku motioned to one side with his head. Piccolo tried to kick Garlic Jr. and blinked twice at Goku even as the kick was blocked. Goku nodded his head and smirked causing a smirk to appear on Piccolo's face. Without any warning to Garlic Jr. Goku utilized Solar Flare and kicked the blinded Makyan. Garlic Jr. went flying away from the duo and Goku took off in hot pursuit.

Within seconds, Garlic Jr. regained his senses and blocked Goku's next attack. The little Makyan grabbed Goku's fist and then kicked him in the crotch. Fighting back the pain, Goku grinned and replied, "Hey there. Would you mind going easy on the goods? Annin would be upset if they got put out of commission for a day or two."

Garlic Jr. headbutted Goku and then punched the saiyan's face. "You should be less worried about your wench's low standards and more about your imminent destruction godling." Garlic Jr. punched and kicked Goku a few more times and then paused letting Goku fall. He then muttered out loud, "What's causing that power increase?" The Makyan quickly spotted Piccolo floating back where the trio had been battling with his feet spread out and two fingers on his forehead.

Just as Garlic Jr. was about to fly after Piccolo, he heard Goku's voice yell out, "Kaio-Ken times 2!" A second later, Goku punched Garlic in the stomach and elbowed him in the back so fast that it seemed like it happened at the same time. Goku grabbed the Makyan's legs just as the Kaio-Ken ended and threw him at Piccolo. The saiyan god quickly charged up a Kamehameha wave and launched it. At the same time, Piccolo fired the Special Beam Cannon. The Kamehameha hit Garlic Jr. in the ass while the Cannon blew through the Makyan's head until both attacks met and blew him up.

Goku and Piccolo both watched as Garlic Jr.'s burnt remains started falling to the ground. Before stratified grins could appear on their faces, the remains stopped falling and floated in mid air. The duo's eyes widened in shock as small golden crackles of energy formed around Garlic's remains. Bolts shot out from the crackling energy linking the remains and causing them to grow.

Piccolo gulped and yelled out, "What the hell? We blasted that asshole into a million pieces! How can this be happening?"

Goku glanced at the reforming Garlic Jr. and then over to Piccolo. "It must be his wish! Garlic Jr. said that he was made immortal by Shenlong. We know he can regenerate from mortal wounds, but his ability to regenerate must be far greater than we thought."

Glancing over at his usual nemesis and temporary ally, Piccolo demanded, "Oh that's just terrific! Do you have any ideas on how we can kill this SOB?"

A maniacal chuckle cut Goku off before he could answer Piccolo. Garlic Jr. glared up at Piccolo and smirked. "You are a complete fool! As an immortal I can't be killed. Know true despair as I end your pathetic lives." Garlic Jr. growled as a black corona of ki formed around him. He drew in more power from the Makyo Star to grow in size and strength. The Makyan's power now dwarfed Goku and Piccolo's power.

Garlic's first move was to fly up to Piccolo and deliver a double fisted punch to the back of his neck. The blow sent Piccolo rocketing to the ground. Garlic then turned to look at the shocked Goku. "Now that the bug has been put on ice for my latter amusement, it's time that you and I hash out a few details concerning future events. Mainly, we will be dealing with your eminent demise and my ascension to absolute power over Earth!"

Goku's eyes hardened and he called out, "Kaio-Ken." He then shot off towards Garlic Jr. and punched him in the gut. Goku's punch didn't do much and he quickly lost the Kaio-Ken. However, he immediately used the technique again and continued to fight against his would be usurper.

Down on the ground, Piccolo grunted in pain as he tried to force himself up off the ground. "What the hell," he muttered to himself, "Do I have to do to beat this bastard Garlic?"

Suddenly, the unwanted telepathic voice of Kami called out to Piccolo. "Garlic Jr. cannot be beaten through sheer force."

Very quickly, Piccolo replied over the mental link. "Shut up old man. I don't need your wrinkly old ass's attempts at sofa coaching!"

Up on the Lookout, Kami's eyes twitched and he grinded his teeth in frustration. The retired god then replied, "Shut up and listen you nitwit nephew of mine! Back when your father and I were one, we obviously sealed Garlic Jr. away because he can't die. You've proven that he can't be killed by reducing him to chunky salsa and he still regenerated. If you want to win you will seal him away. Might I recommend the Mafuba that was able to seal your father away? I'd tell Goku to seal Garlic Jr. away, but he doesn't have any skill in those arts. I know you at least have a working knowledge of them and are the only one with enough power to have a hope of sealing Garlic Jr. away."

Forcing himself up off the ground, Piccolo nodded his head. He then mentally said, "Alright Old Man, I'll do it. Just tell Goku to send Garlic Jr. down here in a few seconds." With that, Piccolo ended the telepathic conversation and pulled out a small bottle from his belt. He pulled the cap out of the bottle and dumped the water in the bottle onto the ground. Piccolo sneered and said, "I hope Garlic enjoys being crammed in this bottle for making me waste good water." He then set the bottle down on the ground and got ready for Goku's move.

Luckily for Piccolo, Kami had a very good telepathic connection plan and Goku was very good at delivering. Seconds after Piccolo was ready, Goku sent Garlic Jr. to the ground with double Kaio-Ken powered Kamehameha and a massive hole in his chest. Piccolo spread his arms out and called out, "Say hello to you new home Garlic, MAFUBA!" A column of mystical green energy shot out from Piccolo and formed a cyclone between him and the Makyan. Garlic Jr. was still regenerating from Goku's attack and was unprepared for the Mafuba. Piccolo immediately ensnared the Makyan and carefully aimed him so that the Mafuba perfectly entered the bottle. Once Garlic Jr. was inside, Piccolo rushed forward and corked the bottle.

Goku floated down next to Piccolo looking like he had just gotten a full body massage from a meat grinder. He walked over to the bottle and picked it up. "How ironic Piccolo, you used the same attack to imprison someone we couldn't hope to beat that was used by people who couldn't hope to beat your father."

Piccolo rolled his eyes and decided not to dignify that statement with a comment. Instead he inquired, "What are you planning on doing with that bottle Goku? I trust you'll be more through than your master was in simply throwing it into the sea."

Goku closed his eyes and said, "Personally, I want to throw it into Hell so that Garlic Jr. stays imprisoned even if he escapes. However, it is strictly forbidden to send a living person to Hell; only the dead can be sentenced to go there. I'll probably hide this in the Lookout under lock and key. That should prevent Garlic Jr. from ever escaping." Goku could see it now; he'd stick the bottle in a capsule, stick the capsule in a locked box, and hide the box under the seat of his throne. No one would ever suspect Garlic Jr. would be imprisoned in the throne and it did have a since of poetic justice.

Piccolo huffed and said, "I'm leaving now so consider our alliance ended when I'm out of sight Goku. You had better keep that brat under lock and key or I'll make you wish you had thrown him into hell." With that said, Piccolo took off into the sky.

* * *

There was a deep throbbing in his head that hammered Goku before he even opened his eyes. Silently, Goku groaned and tried to figure out how he could have gotten such a nasty hangover. With his eyes still closed, the young god tried to remember what happened after Piccolo left. There had been the meeting with his students, the conference call with the other masters, and the celebratory dinner. Everything after the start of dinner was a complete blur. "Ugh, Mr. Popo must have spiked the drinks and I had two barrels of Cider with dinner."

In response to Goku's voice, the young god felt something soft but firm move slightly on his chest. Still with his eyes closed, Goku sighed. Annin must have been feeling randy last night. After all why else would he be so worn out after a good night's rest? Taking a deep breath, Goku let Annin's scent fill his nostrils. Yep having her familiar weight on his side when waking up always-

Goku's danger sense started firing through the alcohol haze. Annin was rest by his side, but he had felt something move on top of him. That didn't add up, at least, it didn't add up to anything good for him. Very nervously, Goku slowly opened one eye and was greeted by a field of blue. He then opened the other eye and blinked a few times to let his eyes refocus.

To Goku's shock and growing horror, Bulma was sleeping on his chest with an almost delirious smile on her face. His best friend was as nude as the day she was born and still impaled on him. With a face as white as a ghost, Goku turned his head towards Annin. His wife was also as bare as her sleeping companions and was sporting a grin to match Bulma's. His tail was curled up around her waist in a possessive manner.

Goku looked between the two beauties with ever growing fear. Just how drunk did they get last night? With a whimper Goku muttered, "I should have let Garlic kill me."

* * *

Author's notes: sorry for the delay in getting an update on my stories. The Assassin's Creed series was simply addictive.


	13. Chapter 13

Annin groaned as she slowly returned to the land of the living. The goddess wanted to bash Mr. Popo's head in. She had told him to add a little alcohol to the drinks for a pleasant buzz. Judging by the headache and the weird visions she was getting, Mr. Popo needed to redefine what he considered little. Seriously, how drunk off her gourd did she need to be in order to dream of pulling Bulma into a HLS show for her husband?

Ever so carefully, Annin summoned a bit of her power and began to dull her hangover. She started to smile as the pain melted away enjoying the sensation of cuddling next to her husband with his tail wrapped possessively around her. Normally, Annin would just lie on the bed and enjoy the morning. However, Goku felt unusually tense and that caused her to open her eyes. Seeing Bulma lying on her husband quickly sent memories of last rushing to the forefront of Annin's mind. She felt the divine Saiyan's nervousness increase tenfold as he saw her eyes.

Rage as hot as the sun's core burned in Annin's heart. How could this travesty happen? A little variety might be allowed under their marriage contract; however, Annin had suspected something along those lines would come up in a couple of centuries. Something like this occurring only a couple of years into her marriage was a slap in the face to her pride as a woman. Only her desire to keep this situation from spiraling further out of control the memories that she started this situation kept Annin from vaporizing Bulma.

As for the blue haired genius, she was just starting to wake up with a pounding headache. "Ugh, what happened last night? I'm so sore." Bulma muttered to herself not realizing she was with company. Goku's face turned an even paler white now that everyone was up. Bulma then opened her eyes and stared in shock for a second. She then jumped off of Goku and screamed, "What happened?"

Seeing a chance to blow off a little steam harmlessly, Annin gave a dead panned response. "Offhand, I'd say we're coming out of a drunken virgin sacrifice. But, I'm not quite sure if we can call this that since usually those involve offering the virgin's life to the god or demon the sacrifice is being made to and not the virgin's virginity."

Bulma's cheeks turned bright crimson from embarrassment and then tears began to form in her eyes from the conflicting emotions she was feeling. "Oh no, I can't believe this is happening. How could this have happened?"

Annin quickly shot back, "This happened because none of use kept our heads when we got a little alcohol and now we've got to deal with it!" Annin closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "Sorry for yelling at you, but this little incident is going to have more effect on us then some awkwardness between friends. Go to the restroom and get cleaned up while my husband and I have a serious talk. Mr. Popo will get you some new clothes and then you can wait for one of us to talk to you."

Normally, Bulma would verbally attack anyone trying to tell her what to do. However, she was so shocked and in such a mess over what had happened last night that she nodded her head. Bulma quickly stood up and hurried to the bedroom door. She paused for a second to consider picking up her clothes so she wouldn't have to run naked through the halls. That wasn't in option for her as her clothes' remains lay shredded on the floor. Seeing Goku's fear and Annin's barely controlled rage, Bulma quickly left the room.

Once they were alone, Goku started to give a panicked apology. "I didn't mean for this to happen! I swear to you Annin, I didn't want something like this to happen-"

Annin gave her husband a glare cutting him off and then she stood up. "Quit apologizing to me husband. I hate this happened and that another woman was in our bed. However, I have to accept my responsibility for this since I asked Mr. Popo to put a little alcohol in our drinks to lighten the mood. Furthermore, I recall inviting Bulma here when you drunkenly suggested that she should 'find a real man to be with' when she was complaining about Yamcha's behavior last night. Relax a bit since you can't be thrown into that gay bar yet because I drunkenly gave approval for what happened last night."

Goku gulped when Annin brought up that part of their marriage contract. He hadn't thought of that since he had been more worried about Annin, Bulma, even the two of them together killing him. The mere mention of the punishment clause sent shivers of fear down his spine. Trying to gain some control, Goku got up and quickly put on a bathrobe from the closet. He then looked at Annin who had remained unclothed and positioned herself as if she was trying to remind him what he had.

In a nervous voice Goku said, "Annin, dear, what are we going to do about this? How do you want us to proceed? What can I do for you to help?"

Annin closed her eyes and thought about their situation. Deity sex lives usually didn't have much impact with celestial bureaucracy. As long as everything was kept quiet, everyone was okay with their fellow deities doing what they wished on their own time. However, she and Goku were not regular deities. Goku was still young by deity standards and a scandal, even a minor one like this, would hurt his pull with other deities for favors in the next century or so. The fact that she was his boss's granddaughter only increased the problem since having Goku seen as running around would hurt her reputation. This scandal both decreased her influence and would get King Yemma enraged. The best case scenario would be if everyone kept quiet which wouldn't be that hard if Bulma wasn't pregnant. If she was, then it was time to move into damage control.

Knowing that it would be too early for ki detection, Annin focused her mystical senses on Bulma's soul. It was infinitely harder to sense a person's soul compared to their ki, but it provided a wealth of information. Annin looked at the patterns of Bulma's soul and let out a howl of rage. To her senses, it was clear as day that Bulma body and soul were preparing themselves for a new life. She quickly disengaged her senses and grumbled, "I'm going to kill my cousin Murphy."

* * *

Bulma sat on one of the temple's balcony tables wearing a kimono and looking out at the Lookout. There was a try in front of her with a half-eaten breakfast Mr. Popo had brought out for her an hour ago. Bulma still couldn't believe last night had happened. How could she just jump into a threesome with her best friend and his wife? To make things worse, she hadn't even officially broken things off with Yamcha yet even though that relationship was dead and buried. Thinking of Yamcha was like a knife twisting in her heart. Annin had invited her here to deal with Yamcha cheating on her and how did she replay her friend? She had sex with her friend's husband. That whole situation made Bulma feel like shit and her memories of last night's pleasure only made her feel worse.

About the only thing that had gone right since she had gotten up was that Mr. Popo was able to get Gohan out of the Lookout without the little guy realizing that something was wrong. Thinking of little Gohan only drove the proverbial knife deeper into Bulma's chest. What if she had ruined Goku and Annin's marriage? There had certainly been a lot of yelling coming from their room. How would Gohan be caught in the backlash?

The creak of a door opening broke Bulma out of her musing. She quickly turned her head to the door and saw Annin standing in the doorway formally dressed as the Goddess of Earth. Annin's face was stoic, but Bulma could see the storm of emotions in the goddess's eyes. Bowing her head in shame, Bulma nervously said, "I'm so sorry that-"

Annin level a stone shattering glare at the genius shutting her up. "Be silent Bulma!" The goddess walked over to the balcony and put her hands on the railing. "Let get something straight, you may be my friend, but I don't want to hear you or even look at you right now. If things were going my way, I wouldn't even see you for years until I could calm down from this travesty. However, some complications have come up as your going to have a child."

"The fact that you're carrying my husband's child creates a lot of headaches in the celestial bureaucracy. Having an illegitimate demi-deity running around weakens Goku's ability to call in other gods for help. Thus there is only one thing to do; you must be bound as his concubine."

Bulma blinked her eyes in shock and stammered out, "What? Me, be a concubine? You can't be serious!"

A snap drew Bulma's attention to the balcony. Specifically, the genius looked at the stone slab that Annin had accidentally broken off. Annin slowly turned around to face Bulma. "Oh I am serious Bulma. Do you think that our actions have no consequences? Do you think that because Goku and I are deities, we can make this situation okay with a wave of our hands? We have our superiors and at times need the aid of other deities; aid which we may not get if other deities feel that Goku has a bad reputation. Our actions last night might be minor, but even that has a major impact for young deities."

"Making you into my husband's concubine is our only face-saving option now. You being a concubine will let other gods know that you have my, admittedly forced by my own actions, approval to be with Goku making it acceptable for you to carry his child. Since you're only a mortal, making you a concubine instead of a wife maintains my honor and more importantly the honor of my clan which has a major sway in this part of the galaxy. We can't hide the fact that you're having a demigod from celestial bureaucracy as it is going to pick that fact up. Having an abortion wouldn't hide the child's existence since its soul would still need to be processed and would only sign your sentence to Hell. This is our only option."

Bulma gulped in nervousness. Things were spiraling out of control to her. It wasn't even two days since she had been with Yamcha and now she was being told to become Goku's concubine? Part Bulma wanted to tell Annin to shove it and leave the Lookout. It was obvious that Annin didn't want this and why should she suffer for some celestial bureaucracy. However, another part of Bulma feared what might happen if she didn't accept. How would she be able to raise a half-saiyan god? What if a catastrophe, which seemed to occur every few years, happened and Goku couldn't get the support he needed to correct the problem? Both sides warred within Bulma and finally she hesitantly spoke, "What can I expect if, and I do mean if, I become Goku's concubine?

Annin took a deep breath and then spoke in an almost emotionless tone. "As a deity's concubine, you'll have a seal branded on your body signaling your status. You won't be permitted to pursue a relationship with anyone besides your lord or any partners he might have. Any romantic actions you take outside of these people will be harmful to you. For example, kissing another man romantically would make you feel like your being electrocuted. However, the concubine bonds do permit platonic actions."

"In return for these penalties, you will have several advantages. First, you'll become immune to all diseases and will retain your current looks until the day you die. When you do die, you'll automatically be granted access to Heaven and granted your body back. This is so you can continue to serve Goku even after death. Finally," Annin paused for a second as if she was sucking on something bitter. "Finally, I'll permit you to, to, to share Goku's bed one night a week."

That last bonus had been painful for Annin to agree to give Bulma. She had wanted to make Bulma into a concubine and then have her stay away from Goku for the rest of her life. However, Goku had at great personal risk pointed out that it would be a bit unfair to Bulma if she was forced to live like a nun for the rest of her life and afterlife. Besides, he would need to be there for her child since he was the father. Annin's compassionate side agreed with Goku's points. This distasteful concession was the agreement her pride and compassion could accept.

Bulma mulled over everything she was being told for a few minutes. Unfortunately, all the twists and sucker punches she had mentally taken were making it hard for her to think strait. "Is there someplace quiet and remote I can go to think over all of this?"

Annin nodded and said, "I'll take you to Goku's old home. No one goes there and we use it when we want to go somewhere peaceful to think."

* * *

King Fuzzy was sitting at his desk looking in dismay at the video on his computer screen. The images were poor, but one could clearly see Goku fighting against some unknown fighter. The video had been captured on a hyper-speed camera that someone in the village near where Goku had his training grounds owned. King Fuzzy sighed and said, "Great, we don't need this on the air causing a panic."

The king then heard the sound of rustling leaves behind his chair and smiled. As his office was in the palace, that sound could only mean one thing. King Fuzzy turned his chair around to see Goku smiling and leaning on wall. The king immediately bowed his head and said, "Your Grace, it is an honor for you to make an appearance."

Goku smiled and said, "Come on Fuzzy, how many times to I have to tell you that you don't need to bow to me? It's a bit annoying and I already get enough headaches from all the bowing and incense offerings at the temples. You more than anyone else must realize what a pain it is given all the bloodsuckers that try to gouge money and power from you."

A hearty chuckle emerged from the small canine king. "That's true Goku. I think your predecessor created politicians as a curse on my ancestor for gaining the throne of Earth."

"Kami didn't do that, those pests were around long before even his predecessor's predecessor was born. Why do you think I keep the fact that I'm a god secret from the world at large? Can you imagine the headaches I'd have if everyone knew I was Earth's god?"

There was a pause as King Fuzzy considered what Goku told him. He then shivered in fear; that was something too terrible to imagine. Once the king regained his nerves he asked, "Why are you here?"

Goku smiled and replied, "I wanted to clarify what happened yesterday since I know from my students that segments of my fight are now viral on the internet. An old enemy of Earth's last god named Garlic Jr. managed to escape from a prison he had been sealed into and was out for revenge. He also wanted to take over Earth, but that's a mute point now that he's been resealed. Piccolo showed up because Garlic Jr. attacked him earlier so don't panic if you see images of him in the fight. This time he was on our side."

King Fuzzy nodded in relief. Why was it that his reign was seeing the most troubles than that of any six of his predecessors? He then asked, "Were any of your students able to help you in your fight?"

"No, Garlic Jr. and his men were all stronger than the other senseis. In fact, Garlic Jr. was stronger that I currently am in my base state."

"That's not good Goku. We need more fighters than just you to defend the planet. Even if you are a god, you're still just one person. That's why I've been throwing as much covert support into your training program as I can. Please tell me that your students have made some accomplishment?"

"Oh trust me Fuzzy; they've all have come a long way. Most of my students and a good number of the other senseis are strong enough to rival King Piccolo. If a threat like that occurred it would be easily taken care of. We just have had the bad luck of very powerful beings crawling out of the woodwork lately."

The King nodded his head accepting Goku's words. He then thought about the situation for a few minutes and then said, "I want you to get Capsule Corp. to run a 24/7 global ki detection system. I know that you use it occasionally to find new recruits. I now want it to run so that we'll know the instance someone with above normal abilities appears. The next one may not decide to go after our top fighters before causing destruction."

"I don't know if we can start something like that immediately Fuzzy. Bulma made some heavy modifications to the scanner design in order to give them the range and power needed for our current usage. I don't know if the current sensors can be operated continuously."

"I understand Goku, but we need that warning system. I'm placing a special order to Capsule Corp for the sensor grid and I want you to let Miss Briefs know I want every available resource they have on that project."

"Don't worry, I'll tell her at the next appropriate time I see her."

* * *

The Check-in station in the Afterlife was a busy place as always. Annin was grateful that she could use the Tennin Gates to move about her grandfather's palace. Was it any surprise that he had a short temper thanks to all the people and commotion in the place? Luckily, Annin knew all of the hidden passages between the gate and her grandfather's office allowing her to move unseen.

Just like always, Annin reached her grandfather's office to see King Yemma sitting at his desk looking over office figures. King Yemma looked up when he heard his office door open up and smiled when he saw Annin walk in. He quickly set his paperwork down and got up from his desk. "Why hello there Annin, I didn't know you were coming over. Why don't you give your grandfather a hug?"

Annin quickly grew in size until she was just inches shorter than King Yemma. She then walked over and gave her grandfather a hug. She then sobbed as she cried into his shoulder. "Oh grandpa, I really need some advice."

The check-in deity's eyes narrowed in concern as he gave a reassuring hug. "Tell me what the problem is dear. You know that you can always come to me when something is wrong."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Annin told her grandfather the painful tale of her, her husband, and Bulma. She covered everything from Bulma coming over because of her cheating boyfriend, to her fateful decision to have alcohol mixed with the dinner drinks, and to the current mess the trio was now in. Part of her wanted to hide her role in the crisis, but Annin knew it would only cause more problems down the road. While she talked, King Yemma carefully listened to her and didn't let his eyes judge her one way or another. Judging souls for millennia made him a perfectly impartial judge even where his favorite granddaughter was concerned.

Once Annin finished, King Yemma closed his eyes and weighed the facts he was given. After what seemed like an eternity to Annin, King Yemma opened his eyes and spoke. "I must admit Annin; I am a bit disappointed in you. Since you knew there was alcohol in the drinks, you should have moderated yourself. I know that your parents taught you to know your limits and that you can control yourself as I've seen at my court balls. Being in your own home does mean you should get drunk. What happened is your own fault and you must accept the consequences."

"That said, I am proud of how you handled the consequences given how trying they were. Far too many goddesses have killed mortals in the situation that this Bulma was in and have had to deal with constant investigations into their behavior as a result. I also think that you have come to a reasonable and just solution to your current situation. However, my opinion on that is of no concern. If this Bulma woman agrees to become a concubine it is up to you to organize her rights in the household as you see fit."

A small smile appeared on Annin's face as she heard her grandfather's words. "I'm grateful that you think I've handled this situation appropriately grandfather. That means a lot to me. However, I do have a question for you. Even though Bulma is a good friend and this was all an accident I still feel a great deal of rage towards her. Is it right for me to be mad at her?"

"Annin, you have every right to feel what you feel and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise. You're a woman even if you are a goddess and you have ever right to be mad at the thought of your husband being with another woman. Over time, you may want to experiment a bit to help relieve some monotony. However, that doesn't change your basic right to want your husband to focus solely on yourself."

* * *

Bulma sat on a stone right next to a small lake near Goku's mountain home. She stared out at the calm lake wishing she could feel as calm as it looked. How was she supposed to resolve this damned mess she had gotten into? Biting back the urge to cry again, Bulma sighed and spoke out loud. "Come on Bulma old gal, pull yourself together and use that brain of yours to think this through."

She then closed her eyes and considered her options. The choices before her were either agreeing to become Goku's concubine or trying to live as a single mother since she didn't want to go to hell. She then began to add up all the pluses and minuses of each situation so she could compare them. Public shock when word got out what had happened didn't matter since it would occur in either situation.

Being Goku's concubine would insure that her child would have a father who would look after him or her and Bulma knew from Gohan that Goku was a good father. Good health and keeping her looks were also tempting bonuses as was the thought of having Goku for a lover. Her memories from last night had been extremely enjoyable. Also, she had considered Goku to be a very good catch back before he married Annin. It wasn't like she had been planning on dumping Yamcha at the time, but she had planed to introduce Goku to some work friends who needed a good boyfriend. However, becoming Goku's concubine meant playing second place to Annin and that burned Bulma's pride. Even though she was the interloper, the thought of having a guy split his attention between her and another woman was infuriating. That's why she dumped Yamcha!

Being a single mother meant that she wouldn't have to play second fiddle to anyone. She had the money and the resources to raise her child on her own. Hell, she could stop inventing things, become a 24/7 mother, and still be pulling a nine figure income. Eventually, she could try to find a guy who would be devoted to her and would accept her having a child. However, going that route would apparently cause headaches in god land and Bulma had been in too many crazy situations to not realize earth needed every bit of assistance it could get. Also, it would be almost impossible to find a guy who wasn't after her money. Bulma had seen far too many breakups in her 'proper' social circle to be naive about it. At least being with Goku she'd know that he actually cared about her for herself.

"What can I live with? Is being 'the other woman' for the rest of my life better then being alone? I just want to have a good man to love, a family to be proud of, and friends to be with. Why can't my life be that simple?"

Bulma then heard the telltale sound of someone teleporting into the area. She turned around and saw Goku appearing by one of the trees. Unconsciously, Bulma gulped in apprehension at the arrival of her old friend. How was she supposed to handle this situation now that he was here? Was Goku coming for her answer? Nervously she said, "Good day Goku."

Goku turned around and gave Bulma a friendly wave. "Good day to you to Bulma. The weather sure is great today and best of all it is all natural." He then walked over and plopped himself in the grass by the lake. Goku looked up at the sky and let out a contented sigh. "It sure is great to just relax here; it always helps me think whenever I'm dealing with something stressful."

Still nervous at Goku's proximity, Bulma gave a slightly shaky reply. "Yeah, it is a good place to relax. Annin suggested it. Um, how's Gohan doing?" Maybe talking about Gohan wasn't the best topic she could come up with, but Bulma prayed it would help distract her from her current situation.

Earth's god made sure that he didn't show any outward signs that he had heard Bulma's prayer. Goku quickly answered her. "Gohan's doing well. I took him flying for a bit before I went to check on my students. Right now Gohan should be in his tutoring session with Mr. Popo."

Bulma nodded her head. "That's good to hear Goku." Silence then descended on the duo. Bulma wasn't sure what she should say and Goku felt it was better to let Bulma set the pace. Finally, Bulma couldn't take the silence anymore and she snapped. "What do you want out of this Goku?"

"I don't want much Bulma. I just want what's best for everyone."

"Is that so? Well then, what do you think is 'best for everyone'?"

Goku turned around to look Bulma in the eye. "I don't know what truly the best course of action is. No matter what we do, someone is going to be hurt. We're all affected by what happened, but I think you and Annin are going to be suffering the most. So, I'm just going to try and help both of you deal with this as you think best."

Part of Bulma was touched to hear Goku tell her that. However, another part of her was upset at his indecisiveness. "And just what would you do if I told you to get lost and never visit me or my child?"

There was a frown on the god's face as he replied, "If that happened, I would not appear before you again. However, I would still keep my eye on my child. If he or she wanted to see me I'd be there in a heartbeat."

To Goku's surprise, Bulma smiled at his statement. "It's nice to hear that Goku. At least the kid will have you looking out for him no matter what. But I wonder about me. Where do I fit into all of this Goku? If I accept Annin's offer what will become of me? Will you be there for me as well or will I be left to myself with only my child for happiness?"

Goku sighed and tried to find the proper words. "I won't leave you by yourself Bulma. You're my oldest and best friend; I couldn't ever do that to you. I care for you and I have a place in my heart for you. It's not the same as what I have with Annin, but it is a significant place. If you want me to, I will try to be the companionship you desire. Annin may have first priority to me, but that does not mean I'd leave you in an instant if Annin called. Sorry if what I'm saying is confusing or hurtful, but it's hard for me to put what I'm feeling into words."

Bulma sighed as she listened to Goku's words. It sounded like Goku did care for her and would treat her like he did Annin. However, Annin would always be the first among equals for him between her and the goddess. That did make some bitter sense as even if she accepted Annin's offer she'd only be the concubine. Bulma considered everything for a few more minutes in silence until she made her decision.

With her mind made up, Bulma stood up and gave Goku a playful wink. "Tell you what Goku. I'll accept Annin's offer. However, you'll have to catch me before I'll accept!" She then took off running towards the woods leaving Goku in shock.

Goku quickly regained his wits and smirked. Bulma's offer was very similar to the old way female Saiyans in heat sought their mates. Goku quickly joined in Bulma's little game running after her and making sure to go slow enough to not immediately catch her. The duo ran through the woods for a few minutes until they reached a meadow. Goku decided that enough was enough, jumped at Bulma, and gently brought her to the ground in a rolling tackle. They rolled in the grass several times before they stopped with Goku on top pinning Bulma to the ground. Goku leaned his mouth next to Bulma's ear and huskily whispered, "You're mine now."

Bulma looked up at Goku in surprise at the joy filling her heart at the possessive tone in his voice. To her own surprise, Bulma grabbed one of Goku's hands and moved it to the knot keeping her kimono closed. "That's right, I'm yours."

Up in the trees hidden from sight, Annin watched as Goku pulled the knot loose. She had come here shortly after Goku arrived to see how things developed. As she expected, hoped, and feared, Bulma finally accepted the offer to be her husband's concubine. Annin redirected her gaze as the duo on the ground began to disrobe. Tears freely fell across Annin's cheeks as she heard the sounds of Goku claiming his new concubine. "Remember," she said to herself, "your actions have consequences and you'll have to live with them."


End file.
